Connect

There is nothing very original or creative in the movie. Its about a teenage girl getting possessed in peak Covid times and how a pastor with her mother deals with it.

The initial scenes are touching because it reminds you of the enormous sacrifices the medical community did ,during the Corona outbreak. The lead character Susan's husband is a doctor who after servicing Covid patients 24x7 himself dies of same. And due to the restrictions, his wife and kid cant even visit him in his last moments. That moved me more than the possession and other stuff which came later. Its really sad we have forgotten about the lives and sacrifices so soon, its not even being discussed in the National elections.

The characters are most of the time, communicating via Zoom, this includes the exorcism.

Overall one time watch if you like horror movies. Nothing special about the movie.

Over the last decade, we've seen the 'exorcism' template overused in Hollywood. As a horror enthusiast, it has become one of my least favourite sub-genres at this point. In India - especially Tamil cinema - such films are still far and few. Which is why there's always a fair bit of excitement when a genre director like Ashwin Saravanan (whose Maya I liked and Game Over I did not like) decides to tell an exorcism tale centered around the COVID-19 lockdown. He and co-writer Kaavya Ramkumar (now, his better half) paint the picture of a well-off Christian family comprising Susan (Nayanthara), Dr. Joseph (Vinay Rai), their daughter Anna (Haniya Nafisa) and Arthur (Sathyaraj, playing Susan's dad), coming to terms with Dr. Joseph's sudden passing due to COVID exposure.

The horror premise certainly exudes promise. It is a stark reminder of the real horrors of the first lockdown when healthcare warriors really risked their lives to save others. The situation of a mother getting stuck at home with her possessed daughter is what you could call unique. But the writing is super derivative. It does nothing novel with the exorcism aspect, and heavily borrows from James Wan's The Conjuring and Rob Savage's Host. Also, we don't see Susan feeling a sense of urgency even when the writing's on the wall. As ironic as it may sound, there's a disconnect between Susan and the audiences. Anupam Kher's late entry does nothing but remind you of the dozens of priests we've seen in Western counterparts.

That said, some of the scares are solidly crafted and they're greatly helped by the impressive soundscape. Manikantan Krishnamachary's cinematography is also pretty good, given that much of the film plays out over phone screens.

Being a Tamil movie, most of the dialogues are kept in English for only the elite audience. Keeping that aside, there is nothing new in this movie if you have watched Exorcist or similar movies involving exorcism.

Also the timing of the movie is very late. This should have been made when there were lockdowns and ambulance noises sounding all through the day.

There is absolutely no real story or connection that one could get with the movie. Just because someone has a camera and call sheet of big actors, such movies are made copying yestee years block buster Hollywood movies. Total waste of time.

Starring: Nayanthara, Anupam Kher, Sathyaraj, Vinay, Nafisa Haniya

Director: Ashwin Saravanan

Story:

Susan(Nayanthara) loses her husband(Vinai Rai) to Covid. This upsets everyone and especially Susan's daughter Anna gets affected a lot. She tries to talk to the spirit of her dad taking the help of an external force. But in a tragic turnaround of events, an unknown spirit enters her and creates havoc in the family. How will a helpless Susan deal with this situation? Whose help does she take is the story of the film.

Plus Points:

The basic aesthetics of the film are done right. Though the film happens in just two rooms, it has been lit up well and creates a tense mood for the audience. The climax part has been handled well and the scenes where the spirit leaves the body are shown in a good way. The girl who played Anna was good in her key role.

Anupam Kher as the priest brings depth to the film with his performance. Vinay Rai was okay in his small role. Satyaraj is neat but he hams a lot in the latter part of the film. Nayanthara has done a passable job in the film. There is nothing great for her to showcase her talent but still, the film becomes watchable only because of her.

Minus Points:

Vignesh Shivan produced the film and it is hard to understand what novelty he found in the storyline. An evil spirit entering the body of a girl, and a priest coming to help her, have been showcased right from her childhood onwards.

The film has so many logical issues. Why the girl decides to talk to the spirit of her father, whose spirit actually enters her body, and what's the back story none of this is explained properly in the film. It is more or less like a short film extended into one.

Emotion-wise, there is not much depth in the relationships. The mom feeling tense for her daughter going through hell has not been showcased well. Barring a few thrills, there is nothing new that the film showcases.

Technical Aspects:

As the film is shot only in two rooms, the camerawork needed to be top notch and it is. The BGM could have been more effective. The Telugu dubbing is fine and so were the production values.

Coming to the director Ashwin Saravanan, his last film Game Over was quite good but with this film, he chose a subject, added a star like Nayanthara, and made a one and half-hour film and sold it to the audience who do not buy his vision.

Generally, thrillers keep you hooked to know what's the suspense behind the spirit. But here there is nothing of that sort happening. It is a plain thread executed in an unengaging manner. Ashwin divides the days of quarantine and shows thrills each. But so many scenes of panic are cut half way through irritating the audience.

Verdict:

On the whole, Nayanthara's Connect is a poorly made horror thriller that has nothing new to showcase. The climax is good and Nayanthara helps the audience to sit through. But the rest of the plot, narration, and thrills are unengaging making this film a dull watch this weekend.

The Film Just Failed To Satisfy My Expectations The Film Had A Great Cinematography With A Good Sound Effects This Film Had A Great Technical Team But The Director Doesn't Use With His Brilliant Writing But After All These Negative Points The Film Had A Great Performers Which Includes Nayanthara,Anupham Kher And With Neat Climax Which Makes Us To Get Satisfied With Little Best Horror Expirience,But Comparing To Horror Films Released Within Last 4 Years This Was Something Good Contribution To Horror Genre Representing Tamil Cinema. But This Film Gave Us Guys A Best Memories While Expiriencing It.