Director: Bishal Dutta
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Trying to live a normal life, an Indian-American teen trying to fit in with her classmates learns that she's being haunted by a demonic spirit from her heritage that's been accidentally freed through the ignorance of her culture and must try to find a way to stop it.
Review:
For the most part, there's quite a lot to like here. One of the film's better features is the highly effective and enjoyable setup that manages to have a lot going on. The initial bits involving her loving family life that tries to intrude on her rebellious attitude and her desire to do good and have friends in school, there's a solid base here getting to know her in the first half. Since the parents try to impart a healthy respect for their culture and traditions, which is the cause of the rebelling in the first place, this makes the supernatural interjections far more impactful since they're based on a culture she's pushing away. That dynamic is fun as the burgeoning genre elements inside generate a nice counterpoint to the grounded storyline.
That all provides the means for those supernatural happenings to be somewhat chilling. The whole idea of the creature coming for her and the connection brought up to their culture is a generally fun touch much like the introduction of the creature into the film proper as the sequence where it gets freed seems innocuous at first only to have more impact later on. There's also the fun tormenting that goes on whether it's through the nightmare realm encounters or the physical manifestations such as the appearance at the boyfriend's house, a manifestation to the girl, or chasing a friend through the deserted school hallways. This all leads into the spectacular finale where a combination of black magic leanings, physically intense confrontations, and some brutal action involving a creative demon provide a lot to like overall.
There are a few minor drawbacks here that hold it back even if they're just little nitpicks. The main issue among those nitpicks is the rather inane and generally underwhelming first-half outbursts she has trying to come off as the rebellious teenager. Nothing about these elements is original or creative as the typical factors here involve a rejection of her heritage and friends to try to fit in at school or trying to mock her mother for still valuing her traditions and heritage. It goes nowhere, is there to highlight the behavior change needed to stop it, and isn't convincing in the slightest. As well, there's also the factor of the rating being somewhat omnipresent as there's a decided lack of bloodshed or gore here with a low body count so it can be an issue that brings it down.
Overview: ****/5
A highly effective and enjoyable genre outing without much holding it back, that this one comes off so well since there are so few issues here makes for a great time. Those who are intrigued by this type of genre fare or are curious about this style will have a lot to like here while those turned off by the approach should heed caution.
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