Category Archive: Thriller

‘Ishq’ review: Not in Shining Armor

The mostly effective ‘Ishq’ takes a seemingly interminably long look at a night of harrowing harassment and then seeks redemption. No matter how that goes, it’s lose-lose for the woman.

‘The Outsider’ review: A Cloud of Horror and Grief

‘The Outsider’ is a take on Stephen King’s novel by the same name. And while there’s plenty of chills and horror in quiet doses, it is what that hovers over it in its strangely tenderly terrorizing take that’s become so apt in these strange times: grief and the fear of loss.

‘Sacred Games 2’ review: What Goes Up

Directors Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan keep season 2 predictable in its violence , but darkly unpredictable in its rumination. But ‘Sacred Games 2’ is more about the inevitable decline of humankind and ties it to a ticking bomb that’s a totem for religious manipulation, madness, and the insanity of it all.

‘Batla House’ review: Trauma Drama

Director Nikhil Advani’s latest outing is a nifty thriller in parts, a tepid template in others. He smartly keeps the acting bandwidth requirement for his lead within manageable spectrum, making John Abraham’s intense and stoic act a highlight. But it’s the trauma that real-life cops, soldiers, and women and men whose daily routine involves staring down a barrel, must face, that truly stuns you.

‘Super Deluxe’ review: A Philosophy of the Universe

Taking seemingly stray incidents across different people’s lives, director Thiagarajan Kumararajan creates an intimate microcosm of the universe, nay, of our galaxy. With a terrific ensemble cast, ‘Super Deluxe’ is a heartfelt and intimate rumination on life, politics, relationships, sex, lust, and life, in a never-ending circle that connects all of its characters and their struggles in the most unexpected ways.

‘Virus’ review: Amidst the Chills, Heartwarming Hope

Director Aashiq Abu contact traces his way into your senses with the slow-rising tension of a virus creating a domino of devastation. And yet, amidst the thrills and (the literal) chills that he creates, ‘Virus’ also installs a picture of hope and courage that’s painted by everyday women and men.