The Priest

#MovieReview #ThePriest #SpoilerFree #Malayalam #Mammootty #ManjuWarrier

With Mammooty essaying the role of a priest-turned-investigator, 'The Priest' had immense potential to offer something never before seen in Malayalam cinema.

But shoddy writing and a storyline full of cliches make it just an average experience, held together by the superb performances of Mammootty and Baby Monica (the daughter from Kaithi).

Except for a small additional twist in the climax, every other turn in the thriller can be predicted a mile away, especially for audiences familiar with top-draw Hollywood thrillers.

Exceptional sound design, background music and camera work manage to generate some chills if experienced in theatres.

The debutante director deserves praise for these elements as well as the fine detailing done in constructing Mammootty's lead character of Father Carmen Benedict, who dominates every scene with elan.

Manju Warrier is criminally under-utilised while Nikhila Vimal and Saniya Iyappan are adequate in their roles.

Set your expectations right and the film is a passable theatre experience.

I am a Telugu speaking person (not the target audience). The highest positive thing is there is no lag in the movie and it is very crisp. That's the reason one can easily give it a try and maybe watch the movie till the end. The highest negative thing would be that there is no wow factor in the movie. Even though there are few potential wow factors, the makers did not properly communicated them. The main lead actor suits the character but for some reason I fell this is not tailormade for him. Overall, onetime watchable for sure if you love crime investigation/ horror/ dark movies.

The writers Shyam Menon and Deepu Pradeep devote an entire murder mystery subplot that takes up a chunk of the film's first half to put two simple plot points across. The first is that Fr. Carmen Benedict (the character Mammootty plays in the film) is a parapsychologist, and the second is that the bigger threat here is Ameya (Baby Monica), an 11-year-old orphan (which we sense the moment we see her!). Yet, I'd still say the first half is more interesting than the second. The latter half delves into possession, exorcism, and what-not in a manner that doesn't surprise us one bit. Also, Manju Warrier's role is terribly underwritten. It's difficult to categorize this film by genre, as it desperately tries to amp up the thrill factor but also focuses on predictable horror tropes. I don't think I'll fancy a second watch of The Priest ever, even if there are a couple of redeeming qualities like the watered-down superstar-isms and Baby Monica's creepy performance.

I could watch it without expectation and not thinking about logic.

I can't decide if this flick is horror or thriller, it was blended around those two, felt it would have been better if they were stuck to one rather experimenting both. Even though the story was slightly different from the typical plots we see in movies, there was nothing special.

The narration was predictable and the twists and turns didn't work for me. Most of the characters including the protagonist couldn't bring much impact on the screen, except for the outstanding young girl. After all Mammootty is a legendary actor who could have done wonders, but in this film he couldn't do much.

Technically the film was remarkable in terms of cinematography and music. The only place where you can at least get the best of this movie is by seeing in a theater and no other place, I'm pretty sure it can't be enjoyed watching elsewhere and this is the high time we all support our industry so that we can get to see more good films hopefully.