Sister Midnight

Greetings again from the darkness. London-based Indian artist Karan Kandhari chooses a misfit couple's arranged marriage as the basis for his debut feature film. As writer and director, Kahdhari delivers a psychological comedy that goes a bit dark at times, yet the abundance of creativity and a terrific lead performance keep us anxious to see what happens next.

Uma (Radhika Apte) and Gopat (Ashok Pathak) are obvious misfits as spouses as evidenced by their first night as husband and wife. Uma is eager to consummate the marriage, but Gopat either has no interest or is so intimidated by his assertive and forward-acting bride that he prefers to ignore her - other than asking her, "Why can't you just be normal?" With no sexual activity, and the inability to cook or clean, Uma becomes bored and frustrated, resulting in her proclaiming sarcastically, "I'm a domestic Goddess". This leads her to take 'wife' lessons from her neighbor Sheetal (Chhaya Kadam). It's here where we learn that husbands will eat any dinner if enough chili and salt is added, and more insightfully, "men are dim."

Ms. Apte brings a physicality (as well as deadpan mastery) to her terrific performance and her wide eyes convey much of her thoughts, especially as her transformation takes place. She admits, "This is just how God painted my face", yet as time rolls on, she's clearly not well physically or emotionally. This causes Gopat to step up, while also allowing filmmaker Kandhari to infuse some stop-motion animation as the level of bizarreness jumps. Cinematography from Sverre Sordal and film editing by Napoleon Stratogiannakis perfectly enhance the oddity, as does the choice of music ... including songs by The Stooges, Buddy Holly, Marty Robbins, Howlin' Wolf, and even The Band's "The Weight".

Between the stifling heat and the less-than-elegant accommodations, it's doubtful Mumbai's Tourism Bureau appreciates the setting, but for movie lovers, there is significant entertainment value with this one as it exposes the misery of being trapped. Just be careful with that cookie tin.

Opens in NYC May 16, LA May 23, nationwide May 30.

"Uma" (Radhika Apte) lives in a small tin box of an home with her new husband "Gopal" (Ashok Pathan). She hasn't a clue how to cook their food and neither seem to have much appetite to consummate their nuptials, so the relationship is distant and she has a bit of a temper which the rather subdued gent tends to run away from (and drink). Luckily, she manages to befriend her neighbour "Sheetah" (Chhaya Kadam) and they share stories about how useless men are whilst she struggles with the boredom of life. She eventually decides to get a job as a cleaner which breaks up the inanity a little, but she also starts to find herself drawn more and more to the animal kingdom. A passing encounter with a goat, then a bird, starts to see her question her almost vampiric behaviour. When an even more curiously tragic incident occurs, the story becomes increasingly surreal and the lines between truth and fiction become almost macabrely blurred. Apte is quite entertaining here as her aggressive and slightly stand-offish character becomes more eccentrically engaging and Pathak also delivers quite well as the hapless husband, but I found the story all too weak and repetitive for too long before the last ten minutes or so finally raise some more interesting aspects of superstition, perhaps even witchcraft, and shines a light a little on the vagaries of her tight knit community who are quick to make snap judgements. Though it's not graphic, it's not for the squeamish and it's those few scenes where most of the dark comedy kicks in, but again there weren't really enough of them to sustain this. It has it's moments and is worth a watch for "Uma" wandering lonely as a goatherd through the city beating a mop and pail, but it will look just as good on the telly.

I have watched plenty of offbeat and experimental films, but this one stands out for all the wrong reasons. It's so poorly made that even if someone tried to make a bad movie on purpose, they'd struggle to reach this level of disaster. The direction is baffling, the writing is nonsensical, and the execution is just plain awful. I genuinely can't understand how this got greenlit, let alone completed. Even more perplexing are the overwhelmingly positive reviews scattered across the internet-I can't help but suspect they're paid endorsements or promotional fluff, because nothing about this film warrants genuine praise...

This movie is pure chaos, and I loved every second of it. It tells the story of Uma, a young bride trapped in an awkward arranged marriage in Mumbai. As loneliness and frustration build, Uma's descent into animalistic urges becomes both horrifying and strangely liberating. Visually, it's stunning-vibrant, chaotic, and beautifully unsettling. There's a surreal, punk-rock energy that reminded me of Wes Anderson on a horror binge. It's messy in a way that feels deliberate, and I admired the boldness of its style. Not every moment works, but the ones that do are unforgettable. This is one of those films that makes you feel like you've stepped into a dream-or maybe a nightmare.

I honestly can't believe Sister Midnight made it past editing, let alone to a full release. From start to finish, it's a complete disaster - messy plot, zero character development, and laughably bad dialogues. The pacing is painfully slow, and when the story finally tries to get somewhere, it crashes under its own confusion.

The horror element? Non-existent. It's neither scary nor thrilling. The "twists" feel forced, the performances are wooden, and the background score is more annoying than atmospheric.

I went in hoping for at least so-bad-it's-good, but this was just bad-bad. Not a single redeeming quality. Easily the worst movie I've seen in years - and I've seen some bad ones.

If I could give zero stars, I would. Avoid this at all costs.