Test

Test (2025) : Movie Review -

It's good that the film was released on Netflix instead of in cinemas; otherwise, it would have been more difficult to see. It's messier than a boring cricket match and cheesier than a match-fixing racket. It's funny to see that the two sides have no literal alignment as they suddenly transform into heroes or villains and vice versa. Moreover, it's too long-about two and a half hours-yet still lacking in drama and action. That's your stretched Test cricket match in the T20 era.

Arjun (Siddharth) is India's best Test batsman in years but is now feeling the pressure of retirement. Sara (R. Madhavan) wants to start his project but has no money, while his wife, Kumudha (Nayanthara), is trying to have a child through IVF. With the final Test of the India vs. Pakistan series ahead, Arjun is asked to retire, but then a dramatic twist by him earns him another chance. However, what could be his last match is spoiled when Sara turns evil and kidnaps Arjun's son to prepare him for a match-fixing gang. Will Arjun be able to fight this on-and-off field?

The film has a messy screenplay that truly tests your patience with no exciting conflict. Every single element is predictable and tedious. The battle between good and evil and the choices between right and wrong constantly shift sides, making it an illogical affair. For instance, Kumudha is a big cricket fan and a huge admirer of Arjun, yet she suddenly transforms into a selfish woman. It's utterly ridiculous. Additionally, I never really understood the match-fixing theme in terms of logical reasoning on the cinematic horizon, because you can fix one batsman but not the other ten players from his team and eleven opponents. How do you expect the results to favor you with twenty-one predictable players on the field? The climax becomes corny, leaving you unsatisfied after spending almost 150 minutes on something that didn't really deserve it.

Performance-wise, R. Madhavan has done a decent job. Frankly, after seeing Vikram Vedha and Shaitaan, something like this feels underwhelming. Nayanthara was also okay here, but I expected more-from her as an actress and from the writer for her character, and both didn't deliver enough. Siddharth was the lead hero, but he is easily overshadowed by others. Meera Jasmine and Kali Venkat provided decent support in important roles, while Vinay Verma, MJ Ram, Aadukalam Murugadoss, Nassar, and others were hardly notable.

Almost every cricket film made in India shares the same issue of executing cricket matches and shots in cheap ways. They lack cinematic sense and value. Somehow, Kabir Khan's 83 (2020) came close to capturing the feel of an actual live match, while others have mostly approached it in a TV serial manner. Test is another film that lacks the cinematic essence of cricket matches. The cinematography and editing should have been better here, whereas the production design was fine. First, S. Sashikanth and Suman Kumar's writing disappoints, and then there's Sashikanth's direction. Test is dragged to the point where you lose interest in the film, only to start moving things accordingly to get the ending right. That's just not done, man. Even fixed cricket matches would have a better script and presentation than this. Skip Test and enjoy IPL instead.

RATING - 4/10*

Test arrives with a promising cast and an intriguing premise centered around cricket, but unfortunately, it stumbles in execution. While the actors give solid performances, they're let down by a disjointed narrative and lackluster writing.

Sidharth's character, portraying a cricketer, feels like the weakest link. Rather than driving the story forward, his role feels bland and underwritten, lacking the emotional depth or arc needed to engage the audience. What's most frustrating is how the film teases cricket as a major theme, yet barely touches it until well into the second half, making the first hour feel like a slog.

The story itself is a confusing jumble, with scenes and subplots that don't seem to connect meaningfully. Dialogues are flat and uninspired, doing little to elevate the already muddled storytelling. Despite the potential, Test fails to capitalize on either its cast or its central theme, ending up as a movie that's more forgettable than impactful. Great cast, wasted potential. If you're a cricket fan, you'll be waiting too long for too little.

I was really looking forward to this amazing cast and hoping they would bring a fantastic performance and story... Honestly shocking! Why would they sign up for this utterly boring movie. There was no saving grace anywhere in those 2+ hrs.

The movie is sort of cricket oriented but there is no cricket in there. You see troubles of the female char, but some of those don't make much sense. The lead char is a person who is angry, frustrated and on the phone all the time.

Definitely not a movie that can be watched for fun, or good storyline or time pass. Subpar script and mediocre acting. Very disappointed!

Anwar Says: What a waste of a top star cast by the director S. Shashikath , who played with the expectations of audiences. Netflix viewers were eagerly waiting for this movie and expecting an engaging one, but the slow pace and timid writing made it a quite mediocre.

The plot has so much to deliver and the best of Kollywood were cast and they tried to give their best but Shashikath Saheb was adamant to present it in a snail's pace and in spite of Maddy's large than screen presence in a grey character and reasonably appreciable performance by Nayanthara , it failed to click. Sidharth also kept on yelling or taking on phone throughout. Meera has nothing much to do except in one scene when she overpowered Sidharth.

On the whole, an excellent plot with terrific cast has been killed by director-editor duo.

#netflix #anwarsays #matchfixing #cricketlife #hydrofuel #overambitious #rmadhavan #nayanthara #sshashikath #weakdirection.

Behold the cinematic travesty that is Test, a film so replete with squandered potential it could serve as a case study in narrative incompetence. The story, ostensibly brimming with "interesting elements," flounders under the weight of its own ineptitude, as these tantalising threads are left to languish, undeveloped, in a mire of creative apathy. The screenplay, a plodding dirge of ennui, drags its weary feet through a wasteland of mediocrity-occasionally punctuated by scenes that rise to the lofty heights of "okay" or, in rare bursts of adequacy, "good," only to collapse back into a torpor of unrelenting dullness. And then there are the moments of sheer absurdity, where scenes and dialogue descend into a puerile silliness that insults even the most forgiving intellect.

Madhavan, bless his thespian soul, delivers a performance of such brilliance it's almost tragic, shackled as he is to a character granted but a miserly handful of decent scenes-glimpses of excellence drowned in a sea of squandered opportunity. Siddarth acquits himself admirably, a beacon of competence in this dim constellation. Meera Jasmine, meanwhile, appears as an awkward anomaly, her visage oddly discordant with the frame, though her acting salvages some dignity from the wreckage. Nayanthara, poor soul, is a victim of time's cruel march, her appearance weathered beyond redemption by makeup so garishly inept it screams desperation-an attempt to defy age that only amplifies its victory. Her performance, alas, is a monotonous slog, as rote as a factory assembly line. Kaali Venkat, Vinay Varma, and the rest of the ensemble muster a collective shrug of adequacy, neither offending nor inspiring.

The production values-oh, how they gleam!-a polished veneer of locations, sets, and cinematography that dazzles the eye while the soul withers. The music, that auditory wallpaper, settles for a middling hum, neither elevating nor offending. The direction, helmed with all the flair of a bureaucratic functionary, is "okay"-a damning indictment if ever there was one.

In sum, Test is an exercise in cinematic futility, a film so unworthy of your time that to watch it is to willingly subject oneself to a masterclass in disappointment. Spare yourself the ordeal.