Connect

The film is clever and easily the best horror film made in India in the last ten years. Aswin Saravanan, Vignesh Shivan, and their team have created a story that parallels a demonic possession plot within a doctor's family, a COVID lockdown, and a home footage zoom call. The cherry on top was the stellar star-studded cast and performance. The soundtrack, effects, and editing were all fantastic.

I appreciate the experience, team.

Please disregard the negative reviews and ratings; the movie is unquestionably worth seeing. The horror film Connect is well-made and technically sound. It has all the appropriate jump scares and creepy elements you would expect from a horror film and keeps you interested the entire time. It is such a welcome change from what you typically see in Indian horror films. The team deserves praise.👍

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.

Stong technique strong actor strong plot yet weak writing and lack of story made the connect less connected

I would recommend any horror film lovers to watch this film without a second thought, but the called horror elements have not fully worked out with the uncooked story telling

Does the jump scares work out ?

Yes, but not in every place

The movie itself is taking place randomly to match the title "Connect" but we were unable to connect with the character's that's for sure

Spoiler alert: Who is the lady from the video call trying to attack the girl in the name of possession, it is for money said by Anupam Kher who is she actually from where and how she gets connected

Each one can identify and write a whole lot of things about this movie, but a undercooked subject with a strong

The movie could have done a lot better if they have concentrated on more writing, we are not in a hurry, really!

My friends made plan to watch this movie. I didn't even knew that this movie was out. This was my first experience of watching a horror thriller in cinema. The movie was good but there was nothing new in the story. Yes, they used the concept of lockdown and quarantine which made the story little different but the overall concept was old one. I felt that that movie was heavily inspired from Hollywood movie, The Exorcist. The runtime and pacing helps the movie from becoming boring.

Overall, it was a good movie but I think it could have been little bit better and it would have been better it would have been released on OTT.

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.