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Close your eyes and point fingers at any frame in Netflix’s newly released “Serial Killer”, I can bet it will be boring. Seriously? As serious? Really, seriously? Three times for dramatic intrigue, if the movie didn’t have it, at least this review will. If Covid was the biggest catastrophe of 2020, we wouldn’t be surprised to use the same “Ms. Serial Killer” comparison for Indian cinema this year.
The film calls itself a “thriller,” but many times it crossed the boundaries of intentional comedy with its “over the top” actors, writing and even set design. The mistakes are so obvious and as for the good things to talk about about the film: we are speechless. And we are definitely not kidding.
You can get better writing from a sleeping writer than those who have written this movie. From characters, revealing character settings, situations, plot and story, everything has been put in jeopardy.
The film begins with a scene out of the way where Sona Mukherjee (played by Jacqueline Fernández) “performs” with a dialogue recital reminding her of excessively jealous dramas that she would have seen as a child when she was at school. In another scene, there is Mrs. Mukherjee lamenting why so many conflicts in her story. We sincerely doubt that the writers thought the same when writing the film. And no, Jacqueline Fernández did not deserve a break on the fourth wall just for this line. And another situation where he shows the same kind of child exclamation is when he discovers that his “victim” is an expert in taekwondo. Duh … you’re preparing to be a serial killer … you know that, right?
And the film’s creators probably think that research and logic are also a joke. We see Inspector Imran (who is also Ms. Mukherjee’s ex-boyfriend) just breaking into her house at night, peeing and casually taking things from the house, packing up to use as evidence. Has anyone taught you about a term called “search order”? But here is the incredible revelation: the court accepts it as evidence to indict Mr. Mukherjee. Just wow
If you don’t feel like being taken on a stupid trip, wait until the bride and groom characters appear. The girl is a student of Ms. Mukherjee and has a clear fondness for punk, but she also ticks the boxes to be her first victim. In addition to giving powerful kicks that send people flying like birds, it can also covertly stick to walls like a spider (Sorry, Spiderman). Definitely, someone has delivered the wrong notes to specialists. The drama between her and Mukherjee alone explains most of the film’s general sense of annoyance.
Careless acting follows you everywhere in this movie through its underperforming characters (because they performed better than required). The exception is Manoj Bajpayee’s representation of the serial killer, gynecologist, and gynecologist Dr. Mukherjee. Not because his performance was good, but because you are just confused and unable to judge whether it was really good or worse. Because, in a movie, the sum of all the other mistakes, I think, can further deter scenes from a good performer. According to that logic, one would not buy his performance too. It actually becomes a kind of respite from watching it so you can escape having to endure the performances of other characters.
Following the principle of “beggars cannot be chosen” is the correct way to approach this film in terms of performances. Darshan Jariwala is another misfit in the film where he lies in bed after severe surgery. But it seems like he’s just lying there for the painless good (except for the viewer). And how can you drive a vehicle at the end of the movie as if everything you felt wrong was a sham? And even if it was a sham, why did he have to do that in particular? This is mind-bogglingly amazing from creators to take viewers for granted. Other characters like Inspector Imran Shahid, the emo-style girlfriend and her boyfriend, and all the other people, including the extras, also provide us nothing to ponder and say “okay, at least this person has done a good job.”
Ravi K Chandran has handled the cinematography of the film, which is definitely not his best. Uncomfortable and unnecessary Dutch angles and the oddity of “minimal or no motion” camera work do not help evoke a sense of urgency and action the characters go through. And it also reminds one more of a cable television approach rather than a cinematic one. Meticulously crafted sets, with “oh so” flawless lights and symmetrical arrangements only make situations “too arranged” to work in this serial killer movie. This is especially noticeable in the climax sequence of the movie.
If you wanted to blame something else on the movie, it’s the generic horror background music throughout the movie. No, it is not fear instilling. No, it doesn’t accentuate the drama. But yes, it bothers and worsens situations. The background music sounds like an overly excited friend who wasn’t even invited to the party. And as an uninvited guest, he’s also trying to make up for it by trying to impress too much in the most unlikely places in the film in the most unlikely way. The climax scene is a perfect example where the serial killer sways with classical music as he is also trying to cut the victim down. Instead of scaring us, he really does get clown and stupid.
One could go on and on with more things that went wrong in this sad movie by director Shirish Kunder, but we’d like to end with a finale. In the climactic confrontation, the inspector promises a comedy to the true serial killer, but continues to speak without revealing it. The serial killer is angered that the inspector taunts him too long without revealing the comedy. I want to shout out loud to the serial killer, “Don’t you get it? The comedy he’s talking about is the movie itself!”
Verdict We think you have better things to do than watch this movie.
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