Connect movie review: Nayanthara's horror thriller is technically slick, but marred by regular narrative style

3/5

Story: The mother of a teenage girl goes through a hard time after the latter gets possessed by an evil spirit during the lockdown period. Upon her father's suggestion, she ropes in a veteran exorcist to bring her daughter back to normal life. The trio indulges in various rituals to save the girl through video conferencing, thanks to the travel restrictions imposed as part of COVID-19. But little did they know that the spirit is more powerful than they imagined it to be. Will they be able to withstand the onslaught unleashed by the spirit?  

Review: Ashwin Saravanan's penchant for horror stories needs no introduction. The filmmaker has teamed up with Nayanthara for Connect for the second time after the successful flick Maya. Their reunion was more than enough for cinephiles to get excited and the promo videos escalated the hype to the next level.  

As if this isn't enough, he announced that the movie with a run time of around 100 minutes will not have an interval, keeping in mind the genre of the film and the experience they felt people should go through. As expected, it has moments that one expects from the director. But is that adequate enough to keep the viewers engaged?

Connect begins with a happy four-member family involving Susan (Nayanthara), husband Joseph Benoy (Vinay Rai), daughter Anna (Haniya Nafisa) and father Arthur Samuel (Sathyaraj). What keeps the family united and happy is Anna's chirpiness and music. The teenage girl aspires to study music abroad, but her mother asks her to wait for a couple of years more.

Susan's life suddenly turns topsy-turvy after Joseph succumbs to COVID-19. She finds it tough to manage her depressed daughter, though she has support from her father. But little did she expect that the worst is yet to come. Anna gets possessed by an evil spirit after which they seek the help of Father Augustine (Anupam Kher), an exorcist, who comes up with a plan to perform rituals through video conferencing owing to lockdown restrictions.

The storyline is pretty much familiar to those who are exposed to horror flicks from across the world. The earnest performances from actors coupled with fine technical aspects lift the movie to an extent. One element which appears novel in the film is the manner in which an exorcist performs ceremonies through virtual meeting.

Manikandan Krishnamachari's visuals stand out owing to the depth it offers in crucial sequences. The colour tone, lighting pattern and the whole setting deserves praise for the spooky ambience it brings to the table. Nayanthara is earnest as a concerned mother, a doting daughter and a disheartened wife. Anupam Kher makes his presence felt in a brief, but dedicated role. Sathyaraj, Vinay and Haniya, too, are impressive in their respective characters.  

However, what lets the movie down, despite its shorter run time, is the predictable nature of the screenplay which offers nothing new. It looks like makers were keen to tick all the boxes we come across in regular horror movies - a happy family which succumbs to tension after spirit possession, an expert brought on board to evict the demon, and the stress-inducing third act - these are all done-to-death elements, and hence, the audience who expect something out-of-the-box gets disappointed.

We feel tense during the sequences in which the protagonist struggles to establish connection with the exorcist and her father during virtual meetings because of which the movie might have been aptly titled "Connect". Though this has been justified, the death of a prominent character in the film and the backstory of the spirit are left unexplored.

The core issue of the screenplay is the been-there done-that feeling which stops us from immersing in the world the filmmaker has created with effective technical details.

Verdict: The performances of lead actors save this run-of-the-mill horror film which has nothing new to offer in terms of story.