Connect Movie Review: Nayanthara shines in technically brilliant horror thriller that is regular fare

Susan Joseph (Nayanthara) and her family are enjoying a wonderful break at a beach resort when her doctor husband, Joseph (Vinay Rai), gets called back to work urgently. It’s the outbreak of Covid-19 and Joseph ends up working 24/7 trying to provide care for the Covid infected patients. Meanwhile, Susan and her teenage daughter Anna aka Ammu (Haniya Nafisa) are confined to their home. The only way all of them can keep in touch with each other - and Susan’s father, Arthur (Sathyaraj) - is via Internet and video calls.

Watch the trailer of Connect below:

Unfortunately, Joseph contracts Covid as well, and passes away in the hospital, leaving his family shattered. He becomes a Covid warrior like thousands of others before and after him. A distraught Ammu, who never got to physically hold her father or even see him before he died, decides to reach out to him through a seance with an ouija board. And this is when things take an evil turn. Does she get to speak to her father? What happens next forms the crux of the story.

Connect is director Ashwin Saravanan’s fourth film and third horror flick. He’s working with Nayanthara for the second time (Maya was their first film together). He has aptly chosen the times of the pandemic to set this horror thriller in. There are flashes of brilliance in the film, but the thrills are few and far between. And this is what hinders the experience. Comparing his work in Connect to Maya and Game Over, one feels this is less true to who he is, as it is an average fare compared to his previous films.

With the movie revolving around four characters, keeping the audience engaged throughout the 99 minutes duration depends completely on the jump scares and performances. Most of the shots in the film are close-ups featuring the actors speaking to the camera, just like in Searching and C U Soon.

Nayanthara delivers an outstanding performance as always, but young Haniya Nafisa is the surprise package. She has pulled off a somewhat difficult role with such ease and excellence, which shows remarkable acting maturity. Full props to Ashwin for selecting her for the role of Ammu. Sathyaraj and Anupam Kher lend a lot of value to the film as well.

Connect is based on the strong connection between a father and daughter, as well as Internet connectivity, obviously. We wish though that Ashwin had focused more on the mother-daughter bond as well as they are the ones who take the story forward and hold us throughout the film. Hence, in this case, emotional investment becomes limited, and the film enters the horror genre like The Exorcist or The Conjuring. Connect, unfortunately, just didn’t have enough thrills - like those films - to be classified as a pure horror film either.

Technically, the movie is brilliant. The cinematography by Manikantan Krishnamachary and music by Prithvi Chandrasekhar take the film up several notches. Editing by Richard Kevin must also be appreciated.

Produced by Rowdy Pictures, Connect is a film that belongs to Haniya Nafisa and the audience will remember her for a long time to come.

3 out of 5 stars for Connect.

Connect is now playing in theaters.