Some of the greatest thrillers of all time have managed to mix a homicidal maniac out for blood with a hardened police force who will stop at nothing to catch the killer. Such is the case in Torture The Flesh, the newest indie whodunit from Cheevies Films. Torture The Flesh is part murder mystery and part procedural thriller, as the clock ticks and bodies begin to pile up.

Torture The Flesh is written by Derek Braasch (Slay Ride 2021) and Anthony Cooney (Leaf Blower Massacre 2 2017) and directed by Braasch. It stars Joe DeBartolo (A Hard Place 2024) as Detective Stevens and Darin Bowman (Doomsday Stories 2023) as Daniel. Stevens is a cop known for his hard-nosed attitude and sleazy dealings, and Bowman is a family man who faces a life-changing tragedy. These two men are constantly at odds while tumbling toward the same goal, to figure out who’s committing grisly mayhem.

Let’s dive in and see what makes it special.

Torture The Flesh lives up to its titular billing in the torture department, as the kills delve into places that we don’t normally see. The arsenal feels like something out of The Toolbox Murders. This film had fun reveling in an 80s style that includes a lot of babes, boobs, and blood.

Some of the turns in the story could have probably benefitted from more buildup to aid the reveal, but the writers did a nice job of implicating multiple potential killers to throw audiences off of the scent.

Torture The Flesh is now available on Blu-Ray, and you can order directly from Derek Braasch.

Naradan, directed by Aashiq Abu and starring Tovino Thomas, is a thought-provoking drama that originally released in Malayalam in 2022. After garnering attention through OTT platforms, the Telugu version began streaming on Aha recently. The story delves into the darker side of media ethics, focusing on a journalist’s ambition and the moral compromises he makes in his quest for power.

Plot Overview:
The Telugu version of Naradan is set in Hyderabad. The story revolves around Chandraprakash (played by Tovino Thomas), a young man from a middle-class family who works as a journalist for a reputed news channel in the city. Chandraprakash is respected and considered a key member of his organization. However, things take a turn when Pradeep (Balachandran) joins the channel, receiving a higher salary and position, causing intense dissatisfaction and jealousy in Chandraprakash.

Feeling undervalued, Chandraprakash quits and joins a newly launched news channel named Naradan. He becomes the driving force behind its programming and propels the channel to early success.

As his fame and wealth grow, Chandraprakash undergoes a transformation, distancing himself from his roots and loved ones, including a woman he once loved. His newfound arrogance leads to unethical actions, such as implicating a young man in a drug mafia case purely out of revenge. The narrative then delves into how Chandraprakash’s actions catch up with him, culminating in dramatic courtroom confrontations.

Analysis:
Naradan explores the lengths to which a journalist might go to achieve power and recognition. Director Unni R effectively crafts a gripping narrative that balances newsroom drama with courtroom sequences. The storytelling avoids unnecessary digressions and maintains a tight focus, delivering clarity and engagement throughout.

The courtroom scenes, often considered dry in many films, stand out as the highlight of Naradan. The dialogue and arguments are skillfully localized in the Telugu version, making them resonate with regional audiences. Additionally, the interplay between two rival news channels provides an intriguing backdrop, leading to an unexpected turn as the story moves into legal territory.

However, the film deliberately avoids elements like romance, comedy, or conventional entertainment, focusing solely on its intense, character-driven narrative. This could alienate some viewers expecting a more balanced commercial film.

Performances:
Tovino Thomas shines as Chandraprakash, portraying the character’s arrogance, emotional conflict, and moral downfall with conviction. His performance captures the natural transformation of a man consumed by power and greed. The supporting cast, including Anna Ben and Sharafudheen, deliver competent performances, adding depth to the narrative.

Technical Aspects:
Cinematography: The visuals are functional, complementing the story without being overly dramatic.
Background Score: Yakzan Gary Pereira and Neha Nair’s music enhances the tension, particularly in key moments.
Editing: The film maintains a steady pace, although some sequences could have been trimmed for a crisper runtime.

Verdict:
Naradan is a character-driven drama that sheds light on the dark side of media ethics and ambition. While its slow pace and lack of entertainment elements might not appeal to all, it offers a gripping courtroom drama and compelling performances for those who enjoy intense narratives. Tovino Thomas’s strong performance anchors the film, making it a decent watch for fans of realistic cinema.

If director Luca Guadagnino has proven anything during his remarkable 2024, it’s that he is the preeminent depicter of erotic desire on-screen. His sexy spring sensation “Challengers” became a phenomenon with its hot-under-the-collar tennis matches, and he’s assembled the same group of collaborators for the surreal and sweaty “Queer,” an adaptation of the William S. Burroughs novella written in 1952 and published in 1985.

On the surface, “Queer” seems to be miles away from the shiny, sporty thrills of “Challengers,” but in execution, both are pure expressions of cinematic sensuality and the subconscious. But whereas “Challengers” finds its horny friction in repression, control and repetition, “Queer” is a sprawling, sometimes grotesque fever dream of chaos. It is messy and it doesn’t totally cohere (just how those Beat forefathers liked it), but it does stick to a guiding principle of yearning, expressed in achingly poignant, unforgettable moments of sound and image.

Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes (also of “Challengers”) has adapted “Queer” for the screen and Daniel Craig stars as William Lee, the Burroughs stand-in, a writer of some means killing time and getting drunk in Mexico in the early 1950s among a group of gay American expats (Jason Schwartzman, Drew Droege, Ariel Schulman). One night he spies Eugene (Drew Starkey) in one of the greatest character introductions of all time — strolling in slow motion past a cockfight set to Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” — and becomes instantly obsessed with the mysterious and handsome young man.

“Queer” is about many things, including the consumption of an unholy amount of mind-altering substances, but first and foremost it is about the absolute embarrassment of being stricken with an all-consuming crush. Craig’s performance is fantastic, baring body and soul, but he is specifically great at the fumbling, awkward choices Lee makes in front of Eugene: a jokey little bow that doesn’t go over well, talking too much and too fast, getting drunk and falling down in front of his friends. He is too needy, too touchy, too wanting of Eugene’s attention, which is doled out sparingly.

Starkey, best known for the Netflix teen drama “Outer Banks,” terrifically inhabits this breakout role, playing Eugene as an inherently unknowable object of desire, because that is what he is to Lee. With his background in military intelligence, Eugene is a cipher, allowing people to project whatever they desire onto him. His sexuality is unclear and seemingly opportunistic. In a film about wanting, he leaves Lee in such a state that it haunts the man for the rest of his life.

The pair set off for the Amazon in search of a magical drug known as yagé (or ayahuasca), Lee determined to use it to achieve telepathy. What he wants is to achieve a true, tender connection with Eugene, a channel of clear communication, even if he might be disappointed by what he ultimately hears.

Visually and sonically, “Queer” is a textured, evocative piece about moments of heady anticipation — a high we get to chase as viewers. There is no drug that could equal the intoxicating power in the cling of a white undershirt or the angle of a throat straining for a kiss. There is no high greater than the person you want draping their leg over yours in bed. Lee chases sex, drugs and telepathy, but what he’s chasing isn’t sex itself, but the moments beforehand.

No one captures that better than Guadagnino and his team, including cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom and editor Marco Costa. Production designer Stefano Baisi has recreated 1950s Mexico (or the memory of it) on Italian soundstages, while Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross contribute a score that keens and wheedles, blending with the anachronistic pop soundtrack and diegetic music.

But it’s Jonathan Anderson’s costume design that takes your breath away. The creative director for the Spanish fashion house Loewe, Anderson outfits the loose-limbed Starkey in appropriately tattered polos and perfectly tailored trousers, Craig in Burroughs’ signature linen suit and spectacles. The costumes are an inherent part of the storytelling, from huarache sandals that Schwartzman turns into a punchline, to flamboyant embellishments on the suits of Droege’s Dumé.

The context of Burroughs writing “Queer” is unspeakably tragic and Guadagnino refers to those real-life details without making the film a biopic. He’s more concerned with the character’s state of mind, which is troubled, addled from drugs and booze, and driven almost mad with yearning.

If the film is too long (and it is), it still achieves something indelible because despite its hallucinatory flights of fancy, it remains rooted in deeply human emotion. Of all the memorable images, none are quite so affecting as those two pairs of legs on a bed. That’s all we really want, right?

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.