“Nahir,” a brooding, glamourized and sexed-up account of a notorious Argentine murder case, is a mystery thriller that aims for engrossing and immersive that never falls short of quite watchable along the way.

Screenwriter Sofia Wilhelmi and director Hernán Gu

erschuny take great pains — with flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks — to show us several versions of the title character’s account of what happened the fateful night in which she allegedly killed her allegedly abusive lover.

We’re treated to backstory which dissects the aloof and mysterious teen beauty who either planned a crime of lover’s revenge, carried it out and took some pains to cover up her involvement, or didn’t. Not in the ways the earliest versions of her account of that fateful night played out, anyway.

Valentina Zenera plays Nahir as a vain beauty confident in her allure, even at her (seen in a flashback) quinceañera. Nahir dreams of riding the premiere float at Gualeguaychú’s famed carnival parade and riding that to fame as a model.

Not that she says much of this out loud. Nahir is depicted as inscrutable, controlled and controlling. All the boys fancy her and no one gets more of her attention, and manipulation, than 20 year-old Federico (Simon Hempe).

Nahir says they’re broken up. Then they’re together. As the narrative jumps back and forth from “before the crime” (in Spanish with English subtitles) to “after the crime,” we see both their torrid affair — “torrid” at least in his eyes — and her “No, we weren’t dating” way of describing it to her friends and eventually to the cops.

Because one night, Federico rides his motorbike to his doom.

We see how Nahir takes the “news” of his death. “Poker-faced” barely does that reaction justice. We watch the early questioning, the tear she tries to summon up or fake with a tissue.

And we learn that Nahir’s adored and adoring Dad (César Bordón) is a pistol-packing police officer. If there’s one thing that’s become accepted wisdom the world over in recent years, it’s the idea that police in most any country all consider themselves experts in one thing — knowing what they can get away with, and how.

When Dad says “I’ll get you out of here…I’m working on it. You’ll be home by New Year’s,” Nahir believes it. Is it because of what she knows, or what she knows that he knows?

As we see Nahir’s (perhaps) ex-beauty queen mother (Mónica Antonópulos) primp and prep her for a pageant and for a TV prison interview, we pick up on the dynamic of the household and the narcissism of our heroine.

“No crying,” Mom insists before her interrogation. Or did she? Federico’s come-ons are punctuated with a macho “I get anything I want.” Dad wasn’t shy about showing his pistol to would-be stalkers who stare at Nahir in crowds. His icy “princesa” never betrays any emotion at any of this.

The court case reveals more than just the lovers’ exchanged “love of my life” texts. Protesters demand “justice” for Federico, but witnesses paint a more complicated picture of their on-and-off romance. And as her situation isn’t quickly resolved — one way or the other — and her “story” changes, we wonder what really happened.

I like the way the story’s jumps backwards and forwards in time to wrongfoot the viewer. We’re given just enough information to decide on guilt or innocence, and then new information is brought to light. Think again.

Now on Amazon Prime, “Nahir” was longer when it played in Argentina, and reviews of this “true” story there weren’t the best. Perhaps it’s tighter, as the Prime cut of the film is 14 minutes shorter. Or perhaps Argentines are more invested in the story and uninterested in the doubts “Nahir” suggests.

Zenere, underplaying in ways that hint at the character’s similarities to Amanda Knox — accused because she underreacts to news of a murder — makes her character believably guilty or possibly innocent. And whatever verdict, she ensures the narcissistic Nahir is never seen with a hair out of place or eye shadow and earrings that aren’t perfectly matched, even behind bars.

Rating: TV-16, violence, sex, profanity

Cast: Valentina Zenere, Simon Hempe, Mónica Antonópulos and César Bordón

Credits: Directed by Hernán Guerschuny, scripted by Sofia Wilhelmi. An MGM release on Amazon Prime.

Running time: 1:48

Watch Red Rooms on Shudder

This new dark psychological thriller is written and directed by Pascal Plante, who previously made Les faux tatouages (2017) and Nadia, Butterfly (2020). While I feel I have to describe Red Rooms as slow-burn, it really doesn’t feel like a slow movie.

It packs a real punch. Just in a different way!

Every cast member in this movie delivers a strong performance, but for me, it’s still very much about Juliette Gariépy as Kelly-Anne. She’s the character we experience everything through. Even in long scenes, she’s always in the background. Watching and evaluating everything.

This is a Canadian movie (org. title: Les chambres rouges) which means the trial setting is different from the typical US setting. Instead, it’s more like the UK and French (for obvious reasons) trials you may have seen. However, this is another element that works perfectly.

Red Rooms premiered at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. After its premiere, it went on to screen at several leading global film festivals. Including the Fantasia Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, and the BFI London Film Festival.

Red Rooms begins Streaming On Shudder on January 14, 2025.

After delivering a blockbuster with ‘F2’ and a hit with ‘F3’, Victory Venkatesh and Anil Ravipudi teamed for the third time with, Sankranthiki Vasthunnam, to score a hat-trick of successful films in their combination. With a chartbuster song ‘Godari Gattu Meeda’ and a huge round of promotions including reels, etc., the team managed to generate very good buzz around the film. Did Venkatesh & Anil Ravipudi score a hat-trick in their combination? Did Dil Raju manage to score a hit at the box office after a series of disappointing films? Did Venkatesh get back onto the success track after a forgettable film, Saindhav, which was released in theatres during the last Sankranthi? Let’s find out with a detailed analysis.

What is it about?

Y D Raju(Venkatesh), an Ex-Cop and an encounter specialist leads a happy life with his wife(Aishwarya Rajesh), four kids and a joint family in a village near Rajahmundry. His Ex-Girlfriend(Meenakshi Chaudhary), a Cop, reaches out to him one fine day and requests him to help the police department perform a secret rescue operation. Who is that Y D Raju and the team have to rescue? Why did Y D Raju’s wife want to be part of the rescue mission? Forms the rest of the story.

Performances:

Victory Venkatesh played a tailor-made role in the film. Y D Raju’s role is a cakewalk for him as he has done many similar roles in the past. He is as usual very good with his comedy timing. His dialogues in the form of a ‘Message’ to men during a fight sequence in the second half, his act as a loveable husband and his act as a husband who gets sandwiched between wife and ex-girlfriend are sure to bring the roofs down in theatres.

Aishwarya Rajesh as an innocent and possessive wife delivered a very good performance. Her performance as an innocent wife in the first half deserves a special mention. Meenakshi Chaudhary as ex-girlfriend and a COP delivered a good performance. Seems like the appreciation she got for her role in ‘Lucky Baskhar’ instilled a lot of confidence in her and that confidence is evident in the way she carried her role beside a senior hero like Venkatesh & a seasoned performer like Aishwarya Rajesh.

The little kid who played the role of Bulliraju is a show stealer. The sequences involving him in the first half are one of the major highlights of the film. Animal Actor, Upendra Limaye, got a meaty role as Jailer but his performance is over-the-top and patience-testing at times. Srinivasa Reddy & Sai Kumar generated a few laughs in the second half and made their presence felt. Naresh & VTV Ganesh have good screen space but not much fun was generated from their roles. Srinivas Avasarala in a crucial role made his presence felt and looked believable in the role of a CEO.

Technicalities:

Songs by Bheems Ceciroleo are the biggest highlight of the film. It is refreshing to hear good old melody songs after a long time in a Telugu film and equally refreshing to hear Ramana Gogula’s vocals after a very long time. The ‘Godari Gattu Meeda’ song is sure to turn theatres into concerts this festive season. Bheems Ceciroleo’s background score is also good.

The cinematography by Sameer Reddy is pretty ordinary. The film is made on a shoestring budget looking at the ordinary visuals at most of the places. Editing by Tammiraju should have been better in the second half and also during the pre-interval. The drama during the pre-interval is good but it should have been better with some crisp editing.

Production values by Sri Venkateswara Creations are adequate. It seems the team made a deliberate decision to make the film on a limited budget and it is evident with the production quality.

Positives:

1. Two Sequences Involving Bulliraju In The First Half
2. Songs
3. Venkatesh Comedy Timing
4. Aishwarya Rajesh’s Innocent Performance
5. Pre-Climax Sequence on Venkatesh
6. Bheems Ceciroleo’s Background Score

Negatives:

1. Over The Top Sequences In Second Half
2. Upendra Limaye’s Forced Comedy
3. Lack of Proper Story
4. Logicless Writing

Analysis:

Anil Ravipudi is one of the very few directors in Telugu who scored seven back-to-back successful films. Selecting a simple story and mixing it with enough fun moments at regular intervals is his success formula. He followed a similar approach even for ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunnam’.

The first half of the film passes without any major complaints. The film started slowly and the pace of the film picked once the setup shifts to Y D Raju and family. A couple of comedy sequences and a couple of songs worked very well in the first half and it gives a good satisfactory feeling to the audience. The editing during the pre-interval block should have been crisp though. This entire block is dragged for at least two to three minutes.

The good thing about Anil Ravipudi is that he knows the pulse of his target audience very well. The dialogues he wrote for the wife’s character and the innocent sequences he conceived involving husband and wife characters are sure to work out very well among his target audience, that is the families. Especially, the married women are sure to relate with Aishwarya Rajesh’s character and are likely to like her character immensely.

The real problem with the film is the lack of a proper story and over-the-top forced comedy in the second half. There are a few laughs generated in the second half but on the whole, the writing in the second half looked rushed, forced, half-baked and loud. Upendra Limaye’s character in the second half did not work as expected due to poor writing and the loud performance. It seems like the deadline to release the film for ‘Sankranthi’ was not given to the team enough time for writing. Also, the sudden inclusion of ‘Social Message’ related to teachers out of nowhere during the climax of the film seems unnecessary and doesn’t sync well with the rest of the film. Ravipudi and the team should have written and conceived at least one hilarious block on Bulliraju’s character in the second half just like how they used his character in the first half.

You may have to stop using your thinking brain throughout the film and excuse the over-the-top loud comedy in the second half to get entertained. Overall, Sankranthiki Vasthunnam is a decent passable entertainer to watch in theatres with family.

Sankranthiki Vasthunnam – Passable Entertainer

Rating: 2.75/5

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