Attention Please

There's a lot of unfiltered energy in Attention Please, a social thriller which takes place entirely in an apartment and adjoining terrace where five cinema-loving bachelors live while trying to make ends meet doing menial jobs. One of them is an aspiring and luckless screenwriter (Vishnu Govind) who one evening decides to narrate few of his original stories to his mates so that they can finally see his talent (which they claim does not exist through their frequent jibes). Things take a wild turn as the evening passes, thereby highlighting an array of social causes prevalent in modern-day Kerala and elsewhere in India. Attention Please thus uses an ordinary setting to throw arrows at you and show how systemic caste prejudice and politics are. And yet some of us do not realize it. A very good and arresting watch. Grade B.

(Watched at the 25th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK).)

A movie that excels in its script, making and narration. Movie shows an evening of a group of bachelors sharing a house, boozing and has common interest in movies. One of them starts narrating his movie scripts. Each one so dark, intense and haunting by itself. The movie subtly touches upon a lot of issues like castism, freedom of artist, giving due credit to artist, dream of kovie making. There is no spoon feeding in the movie. Location is just a house and the terrace with 5 characters. The long sequences will pierce through to you. Brilliant camera and sound. Vishnu Govindhan gives an excellent performance. All in a gripping plot. Serious watch requested.

The protagonist of the movie is a struggling writer trying to find audience to listen to his stories. The plot developes as the writer played by vishnu govind narates his stories to his roomates and the developing incidents is the movies story.

What I liked most about the movie is performance of vishnu govind. He is just mesmerizing, he holds our attention to him throughout the movie. He single handedly takes the movie in his shoulder. The sound design plays a big part in the movie, it makes the story narration scenes very interesting and effective. The cinematography was really nice, even though the whole movie was shot in a flat and it's terrace, the camera angles never feel repeated or boring. Background music was nice elevating the tension and thrill in the scenes. The filim also refrences a lot of movies in malayalam and also world cinema like kumbalangi nights, pavitram, munariyip, psycho and a few more, Cinephiles will enjoy it

The issue I had with the movie is the second half, it feels a bit more streached and packed too much with the social Messaging. I felt they could have focused a bit more in the writing in second half and also made the other actors a little more active in the second half rather than just being passive.

A good experimental filim with amazing performance by vishnu govind 7/10.

This is definitely an interesting attempt. The movie kept me engaged throughout. The movie only has 6 characters, but the narration of the stories, the setup and acting keeps you hooked throughout. Obviously, the movie does not have a regular story telling pattern, it is basically the rant of a person fed up with being neglected all his life. How this comes out and what transpires as a result is what the movie is about. Vishnu was very convincing as the lead. He shows the required vulnerability, madness and hate required for the role. The supporting characters were also good, and blended in. A good left field attempt and interesting watch.

Indie experiments have always shaken up the status quo in Malayalam, be it Lijo Jose Pellissery's "Angamaly Diaries (2017)" or more recently, Senna Hegde's "Thinkalazcha Nischayam (2021)" and Krishand's "Avasa Vyooham (2022)". After having impressed all with his devastating short titled "Pra. Thoo. Mu" in the anthology "Freedom Fight (2022)", director Jithin Issac Thomas delivers a stunningly original atmospheric thriller in "Attention Please", which is easily one of the most eye-catching experimental Malayalam films of 2022.

Vishnu Govindhan stars as "Hari", a disgruntled, down-on-his-luck aspiring screenwriter whose twisted scripts are never taken seriously by his flatmates, played by Jithin and Anand Manmadhan. One fine evening, when the friends set out to enjoy a night of drinks, Hari starts narrating his most ingenious script so far, only for things to take a gruesome turn as the ensuing arguments amongst the gang reach a breaking point. The director builds up the tension with consummate ease, immersing the audience into the predicaments of our lead character and making us empathize with his sensibilities and insecurities.

Vishnu Govindhan is devastating as the bitter, under-appreciated writer and instantly hooks you into his engaging way of narrating tales and his expressive eyes give a hypnotic effect to proceedings. The entire supporting cast play their part in matching their talented lead, with Anand Manmadhan standing out with his prickly, irascible mannerisms and body language. The moody atmosphere built up by the director and the unexpected twists hold your attention for the entire crisply edited run time of just under two hours.

"Attention Please" is a terrifically enacted, painstakingly built psychological thriller that provided much-needed innovation to the genre that has been plagued by boilerplate projects off late in Malayalam like "Heaven (2022)" and "John Luther (2022)". Vishnu Govindhan has proved himself to be a bankable character actor and one wishes that he gets meatier roles in mainstream projects going forward. "Attention Please" is now streaming on Netflix and is a definite must-watch!