The Priest

#MovieReview #ThePriest #SpoilerFree #Malayalam #Mammootty #ManjuWarrier

With Mammooty essaying the role of a priest-turned-investigator, 'The Priest' had immense potential to offer something never before seen in Malayalam cinema.

But shoddy writing and a storyline full of cliches make it just an average experience, held together by the superb performances of Mammootty and Baby Monica (the daughter from Kaithi).

Except for a small additional twist in the climax, every other turn in the thriller can be predicted a mile away, especially for audiences familiar with top-draw Hollywood thrillers.

Exceptional sound design, background music and camera work manage to generate some chills if experienced in theatres.

The debutante director deserves praise for these elements as well as the fine detailing done in constructing Mammootty's lead character of Father Carmen Benedict, who dominates every scene with elan.

Manju Warrier is criminally under-utilised while Nikhila Vimal and Saniya Iyappan are adequate in their roles.

Set your expectations right and the film is a passable theatre experience.

The priest starring mamooty and manju warrier is a decent mystery horror thriller movie which can give a good theatre experience if you watch without any over expectation. The story revolves under fr. Carmen benedict who helps kerala police in some sort of mysterious cases. The major drawback of the film is its predictablity over the suspense and twists which was a key fact of a mystry thriller film. I think this film can satisfy the audience who sit to watch without any over expectation.

Watched after hearing few good reviews. I found it strictly average. Mammootty's screen presence couldn't help the weak writing.

The twists are very predictable. Manju Warrier's character is an extended cameo. Could have been given to some other actress. In fact no actors had any chance to perform a memorable scene. I don't know what was the intention of Saniya Iyyapan's role.

Director tried to make a James Wan style movie but ended up with a mediocre script with lot of cliches.

The writers Shyam Menon and Deepu Pradeep devote an entire murder mystery subplot that takes up a chunk of the film's first half to put two simple plot points across. The first is that Fr. Carmen Benedict (the character Mammootty plays in the film) is a parapsychologist, and the second is that the bigger threat here is Ameya (Baby Monica), an 11-year-old orphan (which we sense the moment we see her!). Yet, I'd still say the first half is more interesting than the second. The latter half delves into possession, exorcism, and what-not in a manner that doesn't surprise us one bit. Also, Manju Warrier's role is terribly underwritten. It's difficult to categorize this film by genre, as it desperately tries to amp up the thrill factor but also focuses on predictable horror tropes. I don't think I'll fancy a second watch of The Priest ever, even if there are a couple of redeeming qualities like the watered-down superstar-isms and Baby Monica's creepy performance.

The theme is comparatively new in Malayalam movie industry. But the script/story was not quite strong.

So many scary scenes were added just for the sake of it, which in turns makes them not so impactful after all. The script, to an extend, moves in a predictable manner. Funnily, one of the subplots felt better than the main plot. They should've made that subplot the main one.

Performance wise, everyone did a good job, but no one stands out.

Background music was ok. Some songs were not needed.

All in all, this is just a passable movie.