Phoenix

I think the bar is set so low for horror in Malayalam cinema that anything mildly intriguing can cause a few ripples among our largely unexposed audiences. The case in point is Phoenix, which can easily be bifurcated into a horror drama in the first half and a romantic tragedy in the second.

Between the two, the more engaging elements are in the first, and while the second promises an old-school romance, the dramatic dialogues often took me out of the setup. (This was the case in Aashiq Abu's reimagining of Neelavelicham too.) Of course, I understand the director's intention to portray the slowness of the '70s, and this works in parts. The integration of the cholera epidemic into the plot also offers a different backdrop, as opposed to the usual "killing off" of a central character to evoke grief.

From a writing standpoint, I think Midhun Manuel picked bits and pieces from various works (like the Insidious films and Gabriel Garcia Marquez's classic novel Love in the Time of Cholera), probably his personal favorites, and gave it his own spin. Sam CS' music works in parts, but there were too many songs in the second half, further hampering the flow. As a debut director, I feel Vishnu Bharathan is promising, and given a more fast-paced screenplay, he can truly shine. Some shot choices are solid, especially one that uses the split diopter lens. The visual effects are not bad.

Coming to the performances, Baby Aavni's "possessed" act was quite good. Aju Varghese adds one more feather to his cap in a role that initially requires him to be a chauvinist, and later an inquisitive (and somewhat scared) man of the house. Abhirami Bose looks good and even exudes the '70s girl aura, but the lipsync was off in places. Chandunadh's performance occasionally borders on the theatrical, but there's been visible progress over the years. Anoop Menon and the rest are adequate.

P. S. Where's that creepy scene of the priest (Rony David Raj) at the seaside cemetery that was in the trailer? In fact, that scene was what made me want to watch the film in the first place.

Not sure what horror element was there in the movie. The movie echoed mediocre acting and editing. The sound was another aspect which lacked the finesse a horror genre needed. The director was not sure on how to hold its character ls. Camera was also really really amateur. It just could nor build up the essence. The chemistry between Freddy and Rose also echoed mediocrity. Screenplay was one which needed expert hand especially when you deal with horror movies. The team needs a lot to learn before they attempt a tested genre like this. Not sure what was the inspiration to churn out such a mediocrity.

A huge let down. This could have been treated better.

Good screen play. Seems like the actor playing role of Freddy and actress playing the role of Ross are less experienced to play emotional scenes. The way story converted from horror to emotional shows the brilliance of screen play. The last scene was too good. The red color thunder storm was absolutely brilliant. In OTT i missed 2 scenes. The priest doing house blessing and reason why Freddy left the place before engagement. Movie should give a complete satisfaction only if all questions are answered. To me the reason for Freddy to leave the engagement could have added more emotion. Overall 7/10.

This kind of film is seen very rarely in the Malayalam Film Industry. For that i have to appreciate the technicians for doing such a varied step.

The genre was horror. Even though it had horror, it was not satisfying for me. The transition part from home to beach cemetery was spot-on. But that scene's ending was depressing for me.

The story turned to a flashback and told an old romantic stoey which happens in the year 1970 and lengthens upto a few months until a bizarre disease is spread in the place.

The flashback was lengthy. They failed to balance out the elongated flashback in the climax. The climax was just of 15 minutes. The last part seemed to be gone too quickly with a few horror factors which is well made.

I liked the film but the expectations the movie gave was too much to be depressed by this.

It has the capabilities to achieve the status of great horror film but fall short of it because of the mix of different genres!

Excellent use of sound effects and some horror scenes are very much impressive !

Midhun Manuel Thomas scripting made movie more engaging and decent directorial debut for Vishnu Bharathan !!!

Technical sides are top notch and aju did a fine work,others did decent performances !

Over all this one is surely a different level of horror blending mystery romantic entertainment.

Watch it in good sound quality theater to experince to the fullest of its impressive sound effects !