There was a fair bit of intrigue as Jeeva (Kalaiyarasan) moves to a cozy cottage in Meghamalai to complete his new thriller novel based on a psycho killer, after his books have declined in sales due to their outdated style, although the plot immediately reminds you of 'Secret Window' and 'The Shining'. The cinematography is exceptionally good for a low-budget film and the choice of location is apt for a movie of this genre.
While the film slowly builds curiosity over the identity of characters that keep popping up, a good portion of the second hour is in fact, a direct inspiration of the 2016 Mike Flanagan thriller 'Hush' (certain scenes have been directly lifted). Kalaiyarasan is a good casting choice for role of the perplexed writer in the first half, but the second half was beyond him (you'll know what I'm talking about if you have seen the film). When it comes to Dhanshika, it's vice-versa. Her blame-game act in the first half is just about okay, but she does a really good job in the second. The second half actually called for some hard-hitting violence and kudos to the director for choosing to exhibit it brazenly.
The writing however is not as smart as it looks. The climax doesn't give you all the answers..it's more like a 'delete' button that erases those questions that didn't matter. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the physicality and neat placement of genre thrills in the second half even though it gives you that seen-it-elsewhere feeling.
Verdict: Worth a watch, but the deja vu is eminent!
While the film slowly builds curiosity over the identity of characters that keep popping up, a good portion of the second hour is in fact, a direct inspiration of the 2016 Mike Flanagan thriller 'Hush' (certain scenes have been directly lifted). Kalaiyarasan is a good casting choice for role of the perplexed writer in the first half, but the second half was beyond him (you'll know what I'm talking about if you have seen the film). When it comes to Dhanshika, it's vice-versa. Her blame-game act in the first half is just about okay, but she does a really good job in the second. The second half actually called for some hard-hitting violence and kudos to the director for choosing to exhibit it brazenly.
The writing however is not as smart as it looks. The climax doesn't give you all the answers..it's more like a 'delete' button that erases those questions that didn't matter. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the physicality and neat placement of genre thrills in the second half even though it gives you that seen-it-elsewhere feeling.
Verdict: Worth a watch, but the deja vu is eminent!