In a nutshell:
It’s a film that can be best described as a psychological thriller for the sake of introduction.
Salience :
The beauty of its format and writing makes it difficult to slot it in any genre though. It’s chilling and scary like a horror. It’s mind boggling like a murder mystery.And like a great psychological thriller, leaves you with many possible interpretations.
The plot :
The plot opens with a serial killer on a prowl for his woman victim.
After a chilling sequence, the plot shifts to a video game designer Swapna (Tapasee). She lives alone with her caretaker Kalamma and is coping up with severe post traumatic psychological problems after an incident an year back that happened on the New Year’s Eve.
Besides the traumatic phobia, she’s also experiencing severe pain in a tattoo that she got an year back. While she blames the tattoo as a jinx for all the problems she’s been facing, she comes to know of a very disturbing fact about that tattoo.
The movie continues with the most unpredictable twists that cannot be revealed without spoilers.
The Team :
The film has been written by Ashwin Sarvanan and Kaavya Ramkumar and directed by Ashwin.With their crafty writing and direction, they keep you hooked and spooked.They keep you on the edge and guessing.
The screenplay was designed such that none of the aspects of the story were introduced properly or explained well. You had to gather facts from bits and pieces , fit them like a puzzle and make your own assumptions or conclusions.
Their technical team deserves credit too. A Vasanth’s cinematography had a lot to do with the feel and atmospherics they could create. The grainy , shaky , hand held camera footages added to the spook factor.
Editing by Richard Kevin ensured the edginess of the narrative.
Sound Design by Ron Ethan Yohann enhanced the feel that Ashwin wanted to create.
Performances:
Tapasee as always gives a good performance as the traumatised girl who remains strong in the direst of situations.Her performance was the pillar of the film.
Analysis:
The film reminded me of so many films like Radhika Apte starrer Phobia 2016,Nawaz starrer Monsoon Shootout 2013 and vaguely, a 2000 film Tick Tock. But Game Over takes the game over and above many thrilling angles used in these films.
Recommendation:
It’s edgy and unpredictable. It’s thrilling and chilling. It keeps you guessing and leaves you with interpretations.
If that’s the kind of cinema you crave for, do not miss this one ! Avl on Netflix !
Rating 9 on 10.