The last half-hour is a cracker. The excitement is manufactured simply out of a man trying to get at the bottom of a mystery by staring at his computer screen.
Spoilers ahead…
It’s inevitable that c u soon takes you back to Aneesh Chaganty’s Searching, for the films share a USP. Both are a “missing-persons investigation that unfolds entirely on computer screens,” as the Variety reviewer said. But there’s a second — larger — link. Variety also said: “Cutting to the emotional core of what social media says about us, [Searching is] a time capsule of our relationship to (and reliance upon) modern technology…” c u soon drags this subtext to the now, and adds another layer. It’s a time capsule of our relationships in the COVID-19 era. From the global sprawl of Take Off, Mahesh Narayanan shrinks his vision to a series of screens that span the globe, enabling worldwide access from the confines of homes. We get phone screens, computer screens, VLC media player screens, CCTV screens, Google Maps screens that transport you virtually to destinations across countries and continents… c u soon seems to be asking: Do you really need to step out anymore, even to watch this movie?
The film opens with Jimmy (Roshan Mathew). Correction: The film opens with Jimmy’s phone, as he swipes through pictures of women on a dating app. He’s matched with Anu (Darshana Rajendran). He is in Abu Dhabi. She is in Dubai. It doesn’t matter. While on their phones (and confined by the bigger screen of the tablet or television or whatever), they look like they are in the same physical space. Their interactions look like the conventional shots and reaction shots you’d get when you shoot two people chatting over a drink: hence the credit of “virtual cinematography” in addition to good, old-fashioned “cinematography”. (The former is by the director, who’s also the writer and editor; the latter is by Sabin Uralikandy.)
Read the rest of this article here: https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/malayalam-review/c-u-soon-malayalam-movie-review-amazon-prime-video-fahadh-faasil-roshan-mathew-darshana-rajendran-a-solid-mystery-that-unfolds-entirely-on-a-set-of-screens-baradwaj-rangan/
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Baradwaj Rangan 
brangan
September 1, 2020
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brangan
September 1, 2020
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Naren
September 1, 2020
The movie was not bad but it’s a worn out subject rinsed and repeated.
Unsane [2018] by Soderbergh, starring Claire Foy was also shot with an iPhone. They even mounted the phone on a gimbal for dolly shots.
Searching [2018] starring John Cho and Debra Messing has very similar visuals consisting of virtual environments.
Once again the assumption that the subject matter wud cover up the shortcomings is obvious here. I mean,
The CCTV server room in Jimmy’s flat is conveniently unmanned and the system not protected by a password. If Kevin cud get so many details with merely an IP address, they cud’ve made a similar approach for the CCTV server access. If they can install a malware remotely into a phone they cud’ve installed a RAT into the CCTV server machine. That wud’ve been convincing. Also, Kevin doing the initial background check on Anumol . . . super cringeworthy, “hollywoodised” flashy graphics with lengthy streams of code in the background!!! Won’t they ever give up on this?!
The pimp was surprised by Jimmy accosting him and yet somehow he just hands over the passport to Anumol with absolutely no resistance and no sign of a protective measure to avoid further exposure.
Kevin has a few post it notes on his mac desktop that has the C++ code for generating a fibonacci series. This guy is a cybersecurity expert or an amateur programmer in 5th or 6th standard?! Mafia: Chapter 1 also screws up pathetically in this regard when Arun Vijay’s character, a narcotics bureau officer, uses wikipedia to dig up information about druglords. Do these people get serious at all . . . ever?!
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Vishnu
September 1, 2020
@naren Regarding the pimp giving anumol the passsport without resistance – He doesn’t have much choice there,right? Physically assaulting her or kidnapping her may result in Jimmy contacting the police and he getting caught. At that point, Pimp would have thought ,giving her the passport in return for laptop would stop further escalation and she would leave the country quietly. He would nt have thought Anumol would contact the consulate.
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Devarsi Ghosh
September 1, 2020
This boy Jimmy… what a character…. wanted to reach into my monitor and give him two slaps. Could totally understand Kevin’s frustration with this meathead.
As for Kevin, don’t know what the purpose was to write him as someone who’s misbehaving with his boss/gf? Like, that subplot or whatever went nowhere right? Nobody cared? Why was it in the movie? Was it just some afterthought to give some kind arc to the Kevin character? Like hey he’s an asshole in the beginning, but look he becomes nice in the end?
Anyway, great great great fantabulous attempt during a lockdown. Other filmmakers have to much to learn from what Narayanan achieved here.
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Naren
September 1, 2020
@Vishnu – That makes the pimp a moron. Given the supply chain involved in an international sex trafficking racket, do u really think someone like that wud b employed?! Here r a few choices –
He cud’ve sent someone else for the exchange.
He cud’ve arranged a dead drop at a neutral spot [where he cud’ve also kidnapped her and moved to a new base of operation entirely or have her killed]
He cud’ve played along with Anumol’s story of him being her father, make the exchange right under Jimmy’s nose and then disappear.
These people r supposed to b paranoid about CCTV cameras and they shud very well b aware that apartment complexes wud have them installed everywhere. They wud b prepared for all kinds of contingencies. Pulling a con isn’t the problem, it’s the writer’s perfunctory effort, that’s the problem.
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krishikari
September 1, 2020
Both Roshan Matthews recent malayalam roles have been online lovers.
I totally did not buy the falling in love in one week and marriage proposal. They wasted a lot of time showing us passport forms being filled but put no substance into developing the relationship.
Other than that I thought it was surprisingly suspenseful and not at all boring to watch. I was expecting worse with this covid protocol film-making concept and hoping this is not the new normal in movies. Even if it somehow does become normal, people are going to get more innovative with time.
@devarsi Kevin was not misbehaving other than the bitch calling, they had a quarrelsome relationship and she was equal in giving him an earful so I did not have a problem with that.
I agree the escape itself was also not given enough time and lots of holes needed plugging. They should have come up with the same end result by coming up with more reasons for the pimp to have no choice but to do the passport exchange.
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tonks
September 2, 2020
While this is a remarkable attempt during a lockdown, and quite a decent watch, I would have been happier with more of a twist and suspense in the story. There was not much of a surprise element to the story once we knew what this was about and this happened quite some time before the end.
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brangan
September 2, 2020
Naren: One thing about this movie is that it leaves us with a lot of “whys”s, because we only see what occurs in front of a camera. So it is impossible to join the psychological dots and provide reasons/motives for even something as simple as “why did Anu get on Tinder as opposed to, say, ask for help in a more straightforward manner?”
And I am glad they did not try to join all the dots, as they COULD have. For example, when Kevin chats with her at the end, she could have explained everything. And she doesn’t. The broader framework fits, and to me, that was enough.
The last half-hour or so was an extraordinary show of pure technique, while also softening Kevin in front of our very eyes.
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Kajal
September 2, 2020
@Naren
I don’t think it would be fair to say that style has been “rinsed and repeated”, esp only 3 movies in. I see it as a new style/genre of filmmaking, so there wouldn’t be anything wrong for multiple movies to have the same technique. Perhaps the thriller/missing premise has been done already in the tech style, but I feel like filmmakers should not stop themselves from having the same premise long as it’s not a clear copy.
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Naren
September 2, 2020
BR,
If we r getting into the “why”s of the storyline then I wud ask why she was given an internet access in the first place or any kind of tech access at all. Either the trafficking network is so large and is reaching high and influential places for them to b so cocky and loose with the rules or they’re just plain dumb.
IIRC, the P.C. in the end about the ring bust after she blows the whistle don’t seem to mention anything like one particular cell of a larger network being taken down. That implies that it was a solo op and that makes them extraordinarily careless. I just don’t c how they’d have survived for as long as they did. Does this also imply that a country that strictly prohibits live-in relationships is laissez faire about prostitution?!
Remember there was a case a while ago of a woman who got on tinder, lured the guys to dates, threatened with video evidence of their prurient activities, extorted money from them and eventually in one case had a guy killed with the help of 2 men?! The question as to why she got on tinder instead of a straightforward approach for help . . . based on her choice to go AWOL on Jimmy, my inference is that she was desperately looking for a lonely sucker to lure him into paving her way out. Despite her explanation to Kevin in the end, this is the only intention that wud justify her actions.
I’m sure the writer(s) had the intention of portraying Anumol as a victim desperate to find some sort of normality in her life which came in the form of Jimmy. But what they really executed says otherwise. From the videos of her crying and desperately asking her mom to help her in anyway possible, her priority and her pre-occupation is very clear . . . getting back home to safety. Now suddenly she gives up on all of that and finds solace in a guy she had known only for a week?! Given her recent experiences how did she even trust him so quickly or at all?! Jimmy’s foolish and presumptive choice to surprise her “father” is what motivates her to pivot to her plan to escape?! During all the time she was staying with Jimmy, not once did she try to contact her mom, which wud imply that her plan to escape was being still cooked rather than the chicken curry. I just don’t c the possibility of her vacillating between getting back home and having a life with Jimmy . . . at all. Here r the possibilities,
1.Blinded by fear and desperation Anumol simply shutdown and cudn’t think anything at all other than being with a guy she met a week ago. [Not a chance in hell]
2.The writer(s) bungled midway.
The pure technique about which u r talking . . . had Jimmy, blindly driven by his mad love for her, risen to the occasion and performed a miracle by making the connections himself, wud’ve been an inspiring feat worth mentioning but for a cybersecurity expert [if that’s what he is really . . . fibonacci series] to do what he did . . . all that’s just another day’s work.
Kevin softening . . . I understand him being annoyed at Jimmy’s foolishness and frustrated with his colleague/girlfriend for ignorantly/intentionally sidelining him. But u r implying that he is a battle-hardened tyrant about all aspects of his life who suddenly mellowed because of this particular case. I c it as him being stoical to keep himself clear headed throughout this whole ordeal.
What occurs in front of the screen is supposed to b conducive to the audience to either infer the justification of the characters’ actions or arrive at their own conclusions based on the open-endedness of the characters’ choices in the big picture. The connections among dots that u say r not being spoonfed to the audience . . . there don’t seem to b logical possibilities to connect at all . . . in many cases if not all.
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krishikari
September 2, 2020
The last half-hour or so was an extraordinary show of pure technique, while also softening Kevin in front of our very eyes.
So true, the shots of just the man staring at a screen were enough to see this. FF can indeed act with his eyes 🙂
@tonks Not having the airport reunion scene happen was a twist.
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Naren
September 2, 2020
@Kajal – I didn’t mean the style, I meant the subject matter [sex trafficking] being rinsed and repeated. The other 2 movies . . . I just wanted to share that there are other similar ones too, that’s all. It is indeed an emergent style of filmmaking that’s appropriate for the times.
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tonks
September 3, 2020
@tonks Not having the airport reunion scene happen was a twist
I think I was unfairly holding it up to the standards of Searching, which had me so much more emotionally invested, and biting my nails. Here after we come to know who she actually was, there was not much suspense and not many thrills.
I also did not buy into him falling so in love after the few scenes that were shown. My family whom I watched this with say that perhaps it’s because they didn’t show all their conversations, that would have been boring. Even so.
But then again I’ve heard of so many young people falling in love with strangers they meet online, so maybe it’s possible.
But notwithstanding my grouses, it’s still quite a good watch.
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hari
September 3, 2020
Definitely a good watch. Like others I was also expecting some kind of twist at the end. At times I felt Jimmy guy was over reacting. Fahadh indeed talks with his eyes. Kudos to Malayalam cinema for breaking new grounds. Alas Tamizh Cinema is still talking about Tamizh this, farming that.
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Ramesh K P
September 3, 2020
The injury that results in Anu moving into Jimmy’s house, did she deliberately do it to herself?
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Ramesh K P
September 3, 2020
The way Jimmy is shown to openly chat on his office’s computer screen with his GF (who is in bed no less!) was awkward. I can understand him taking a break and talking to her on the phone at the water cooler, but not on his computer and at his workstation. If Jimmy were in my office, I wouldn’t have a good opinion of his work culture.
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Madan
September 8, 2020
Just wrapped this up. Was a brilliant watch. I think a lot of the softening is indeed Fahad Faasil’s doing, he does manage to get it across with only very subtle adjustments.
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anandkrishnanb
September 15, 2020
Having seen “Searching”, I would consider this a really bad movie.
Had I not seen “Searching”, I would have considered this a bad movie.
Even without any comparison, this is a bad movie that fails at basic writing level.
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