Like the countless other things that were made possible online by the deadly coronavirus, Connect adds demonic possession and exorcism to the list, observes S Saraswathi.
With the threat of another COVID wave looming large, one thing that Director Ashwin Saravanan has got spot on is the timing of the release of his film, Connect.
Connect takes us back to those terrifyingly uncertain times during the first outbreak of the virus.
This fear sensitises us to the main characters of the film and the horror and helplessness of the situation they find themselves in.
Set against the backdrop of the initial complete lockdown, the film narrates the ordeal of one happy family, whose world is completely shattered in a few short weeks.
Joseph (Vinay Rai), a kind and empathetic doctor, dotes on his daughter Anna (Haniya Nafis), a budding musician.
Nayanthara plays his wife Susan and Arthur (Sathyaraj) is his father-in-law.
The very first scene has the coronavirus interrupting the family's vacation by the beach when Joseph is summoned to the hospital.
Joseph contracts the disease, eventually succumbing to it.
With Susan and Anna stuck in the house, the family is distraught. But more importantly, there is neither acceptance nor closure -- a sentiment that touches a chord.
Unfortunately, the director is unable to maintain the same connect once the film begins to unravel.
The focus is all about the technicalities: The loud eerie sounds, the never-ending darkness, the spooky lighting techniques and other usual movie paraphernalia to inspire horror.
Then Susan and Anna also get infected with the virus and quarantined at home.
What happens to them in the next 14 days of their quarantine forms the crux of the story.
Anna needs that one final moment with her father before she can let go.
Like the countless other things that were made possible online by the deadly coronavirus, Connect adds demonic possession and exorcism to the list.
Anna tries to reach out to her father with an ouija board and an evil online psychic and is unwittingly trapped in a nightmare.
Divine intervention comes in the form of Anupam Kher, who plays a priest from Mumbai.
The movie moves predictably and there is no element of suspense.
There are a couple of lighter moments, good sound effects and a lovely song, but more was expected from an old hand like Ashwin Saravanan.
His earlier films like Maya, also starring Nayanthara, and Taapsee Pannu's Game Over, kept you on the edge of your seat from start to finish.
What works for the film are the video calls through which the narration moves ahead. We are always looking at the scene not just from the lens of a character's phone camera but also from that character's perspective. Not to forget the beautiful message of hope and faith, and the need to move on to heal.
But if you are a horror movie fan, Ashwin Saravanan's Connect will fall short of expectations.
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