Lilli is a thriller movie directed by Prasobh Vijayan and stars Samyuktha Menon as the lead. There are only a handful of characters in the film and most of them are new faces. Lilli tells the story of Lilli, a pregnant woman who is kidnapped by 3 mysterious men and has to escape from their clutches against difficult odds. However, Lilli has its share of surprises which you have to experience from the theater because believe me, it blew me away.
First lets start with the good stuff. Lilli is a gory, bloody, gritty and incredibly violent film. It is perhaps the most violent and bloody film I have ever seen in Mollywood and thank god for that. It is a breath of fresh air to watch a thriller like this so raw, so bloody that most of the time I had to look away from the screen and believe me that does not happen to me most of the time. The performances are pretty good. The actors all serve their purposes. Samyuktha Menon was given an extremely challenging role and she gave it her all and it is evident on the screen and I commend her for that. The writing and storytelling is perhaps the most surprising aspect of the film. The story is straightforward and simple but the way it is presented on screen keeps the viewers constantly engaged and curious to see how the story will unfold. The movie does not have any songs in it and it is an uncut experience and thank god for that! The sound work is excellent, the scares pay off, the visuals are well set up and the cinematography is excellent.
Now let us get to the bad stuff and there are a few of them. First of all, there is one character brought into the movie from the beginning which I thought was a missed opportunity. It just ends in a weird way and felt like it could have been utilized better but the director had a vision for the character and I could see what he was going for but it could have been done better. Another major issue I have with the film is the ending, which I though was rather rushed and forced almost to the point where it felt like they didn't know how to end the story. It felt abrupt and leaves a bad taste in the mouth.
Another minor nitpick I have is a problem most movies like these have. The character is in pain and in a struggling situation throughout the film. Thus there are extensive shots of the character slowly walking in pain or grunting in pain etc. These can get a bit excessive and the movie can drag because of these sequences but nothing too major.
All in all, Lilli is a fine thriller with gory, violent and deeply disturbing tone, notable performances, ghastly visuals and a well written and well presented story. It is definitely a movie I would recommend to movie lovers and casual thriller fans alike.
Do not miss this one!
