Debut writer-director Anand Ekarshi presents a gem of a film that's equal parts engaging, thrilling, reflective, tragic, and (spontaneously) funny. What starts as members of a drama troupe in Kerala casually spending a night partying at a patron's guesthouse quickly turns into a whodunnit crime drama with solid attention to detail. Stories are often just that.. stories. Lies are built upon lies. Selflessness gradually turns into pretense and selfishness. The crime happens to the only female member of the troupe. A version of her story is conveyed to all the remaining male members. There's so much intricacy in the storytelling, so much candidness. The writing (dialogues, especially) is superlative.
The decision to cast a bunch of (fantastic) newcomers except for the three (or four) main characters turns out to be a masterstroke. This way, it's easy to perceive each one of them objectively, along with their perspectives of what happened that night. Amongst the menfolk of the troupe, we see almost every variant of men there is. Or at least, fascinating shades of it. Some are old-fashioned, some are suspicious of their female colleague's demeanor, some find it hard to believe her story, and some have selfish motives. They exhibit differential shades of misogyny without even realizing it. The wronged woman (Zarin Shihab) continues to be at the receiving end of it all. She silently takes it in; there's no outburst or excessive display of emotion. Shihab is spectacular, and I liked the writer-director's choice to end the film purely from her perspective.
All the performers have done a wonderful job, pushing their respective roles to even greater heights. Vinay Forrt, especially, is amazing as the conflicted boyfriend with his own set of personal and professional dilemmas. The screenplay was so immersive that I didn't pay a lot of attention to the other departments (cinematography, music) and I'm going to rewatch this for the complete package when it becomes available to stream digitally. For now, Malayalam cinema couldn't have asked for a better start to 2024.
