Popular reviews

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  Review by Michael James ★★★★★

  A simple warm drama dealing with human relations, life, love, guilt, compassion and redemption narrated in a soulful manner. The realistically rooted setting with detailed nuances, memorable subtle characters, soothing music and breathtaking visuals add beauty to the dramatics. It carries an unexplainable close to heart vibe making it all the more special. Entire cast deliver solid performances with Soubin Shahir and Fahadh Faasil being my favorite picks. The latter’s toxic patriarchy portions was portrayed outright hilariously. To sump it up, this rare gem is a must watch as its nothing but 130 minutes of feel good detox.

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  Review by Rafael "Parker!!" Jovine ★★★½

  One of those dramas where much is conveyed with few words, where much of the silence combined with a great soundtrack that serves almost as a storyteller serves to bring out the subtext in a very effective way.

  The direction is good at bringing out and playing with these elements of family drama, romance and a little bit of suspense. The performances do a good job of capturing a lot of these different tones both through one's performance or each portraying an archetype in the story charged with bringing out either the romance or the tension. The cinematography is really good, especially in the lighting department.

  All in all, a sometimes thrilling other times cute family drama that worth watching.

  TODAY SCHEDULE
  Corpus Callosum
  Kumbalangi Nights
  The Great Indian Kitchen
  Sins of my Mother
  Space Cowboys

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  Review by Devang Pathak ★★★★★ 3

  This reminded me so much of Jusqu'à la garde but done even better. The Hitchcockian vibe, complete with subtlety builds up Dread, something even Soni explored. Ranks with Pariyerum Perumal in outclassing the Hindi mainstream and how.

  The milestone it represents for giving space to an important conversation in just a short sequence is commendable. Beautifully shot. Great writing. Central performance was among the best I have seen. We know soooo many people like these.

  This film makes me so happy and hopeful.

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  Review by Graham ★★★★½ 11

  A deeply moving experience that pushes the viewers brain to places it didn't expect to go, Kumbalangi Nights is a soothing and reflexive film about family, bonding, love and the determination of human beings to 'do the right thing, right'.

  This was my second attempt at the film, and to be honest I was a little nervous as it started with a few choppy-cut edits and musical moments that have become stereotypes of Indian cinema over recent years. About twenty minutes in though, and it became clear this was something quite special. It has patience and class, stunning cinematography and manages to avoid over-dramatizing events to the point of becoming a soap-opera. It sways in the dialogue and breathes in…

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  Review by Will_Niemand ★★★★★

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Whoa, what the fuck... This escelated quickly from a feel-good family movie to some sort of a psycho-thriller.

  Anyway, great performances by Fahad Faasil, Soubin Shahir and everyone else from the lead.

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  Review by Vishwas Verma ★★★★★

  Saying again, "Malayalam cinema is poetic."

  After Charlie, I enjoyed this movie a lot. Incredible visuals, lighting and locations.

  This is a feel good family drama, moves very beautifully. The family is flawed but they unite for each other. A well written poetry about humanity.

  Actors are so good and looks so realistic in their roles. The story touches me, the feelings they have for their family, specially Shaji; So pure and realistic. Amazing. Baby was very cute.

  Fahadh Faasil was outstanding man. I was thinking why he took that kind of simple role? But in the climax...!!!! Man that was amazing.
  Soubin, Shane, Sreenath and Anna Ben did very well.

  A hearly thanks to The DoP Shyju Khalid and…

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  Review by Nakul ★★★★½ 1

  Favourite of this year so far. It pits four loser brothers against the "perfect man" & superbly gear-shifts genres from a quirky family drama to a hyper creepy take on patriarchy & toxic masculinity as the perfect man with the perfect smile harbours another sinister primitive persona.
  The visual imagery coupled with stunning background score speaks so much in the film that at times you don’t need dialogues to take forward the story & that makes entire experience so magical.

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  Review by Julian (The Film Seeker) ★★★★ 2

  To reduce all Indian cinema down to what would conventionally be categorized as "Bollywood" is a pretty reductive standpoint, but if we're being honest, most of us non-Indian filmgoers have been guilty of this mindset at one point or another. The fact is, boasting nearly as many film industries as it does languages, India is a ripe hub for diverse cinematic styles. So the next time you see a film like Kumbalangi Nights creep into the Letterboxd Top 250 only to unceremoniously disappear a few weeks later, consider giving that film a shot. It may follow some of the conventions you'd stereotypically associate with Bollywood (prominent music, slow motion, heavy focus on romance), but what you'll end up getting is,…

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  Review by oru_dude

  "eda angne onnum venda. nammak ee kumbalangi nights okke pole simple aayit edutha mathi..."

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  Review by Ashwin Dev ★★★ 1

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  The thick-moustached, ever-smiling, "well-behaved", employed, "cultured", mysogynistic Malayali man is a reality. He is your uncle. He is your neighbor. He is that relative in WhatsApp family group who forwards messages about some random married lady who supposedly eloped with her lover and gets angry over it. He is the sexually frustrated asshole who can barely stand to watch a couple enjoy their lives. That person is a real "normal" man. Then, why on earth would a National Award winning screenwriter decide to make that character mentally ill?? Everything that had been built-up for two whole hours went down the drain when the writer literally said "He is crazy." only for the sake of cheap drama and shock value in…

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  Review by Prateek Sharma ★★★★½ 2

  Totally loved the film and the approach of showing different aspects of masculinity both flawed and strength in a peculiar way. Director and writer went unconventional way in terms of storytelling and i totally appreciate not showing the toxic aspect of characters for long duration. This film's heart is in the right place and they gave many subtle examples of showing toxic behavior traits in men wonderfully. Though I understand the meaning of "trap" In the end sequence it didn't worked for me fully otherwise I would have given the film 5 stars for sure, but yea this is well made film with every cast members doing their job well and the camera work and editing is just top notch and now I just want to go to Kumbalangi and be in the boat during sunset. Must watch film.

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  Review by Kay Skywalker ★★★★★

  shane nigam, i'll always have the fattest crush on you!