Ever had a pudding that looked exquisite and smelled delicious but turned out to be a little undercooked as you took the first bite? Almost telling you that the cook had quality ingredients at their disposal but failed to fully satiate your senses. It is akin to how Darlings made me feel.
Looking at the cast and having heard a positive thing or two about the film, I went in to watch with considerable expectations but was rendered feeling underwhelmed at the end of it. While one can point out at the lack of remarkable dialogues and a fairly lackluster climax; at heart, it seems as if the makers weren't manifestly clear about what kind of emotions they wanted the audience to feel through the course of the movie.
The description on Netflix says that the film is a "dark comedy". In essence, it's a story about domestic violence loaded with slapstick elements. Just because the fulcrum of the plot is a sensitive issue, doesn't make it a dark comedy.
Ironically, there's a scene in the movie where Hamza (played by Vijay Varma) asks Zulfi (played by Roshan Mathew) about the film that he's writing. When Zulfi tells he's been working on a horror-comedy, Hamza replies with, "Agar faluda mein whiskey milayega, toh thodi jamega" (If you mix Faluda and Whiskey, it's likely to taste bad). It is funny that you could say something along similar lines about Darlings itself. While the comedy never quite sets you on a laughing spree, it does digress the makers from several opportunities where they could have made the audience feel visceral emotions.
The entire second half shows Badru (played by Alia Bhatt) turning the tables on her husband Hamza and avenging the constant abuse she had borne. It feels as if somebody penned down the intrusive thoughts of revenge that go through the mind of a victim of domestic violence and brought them to life. However, it seems to go a notch too far as she constantly drugs Hamza and thereby severely dilutes the impact of the climax. In fact, as we go through scenes of policemen not even considering the man being a victim of domestic abuse, it is very much possible to feel unempathetic towards Badru when she's eventually set free.
The cast has proven artists. With their high standards, it is hard to see this being Alia's or Vijay's best performance. Shefali Shah outshines everybody. Plotwise, the depth of Hamza's character, along with some obvious 'conflicts' that could be brought to forefront seem like unexplored territories. All in all, the film leaves a fair bit to desire.
