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The Priest Movie Review: This Mammootty Starrer Is A Riveting Thriller That Stays True To Its Genre!
The Priest, the Mammootty starring horror-mystery thriller has finally hit theatres, as the biggest release post the Novel Coronavirus outbreak. Expectations were riding high on this Jofin T Chacko directorial, after the release of its highly intriguing teasers. Mammootty is playing the titular character in The Priest, which belongs to one of the most underused genres of Malayalam cinema.
Did the mystery thriller live up to its hype? Read The Priest movie review here, to know...
*No Spoilers Ahead*
What's Yay:
Brilliant performances by Mammootty and the rest of the cast.
Excellent writing and making style.
Captivating music score.
What's Nay:
The slow pace at certain portions.
Story
Fr Benedict (Mammootty) is leading an independent life after quitting priesthood. He is a private investigator who helps the police force solve mysterious cases. During one such investigation, he meets Ameya Gabrielle (Baby Monica), an orphaned child. How Fr Benedict solves the mysteries of Ameya and her favorite teacher Jessy's (Nikhila Vimal) lives forms the crux of The Priest.
Array
Jofin T Chacko makes a fantastic debut with The Priest and he is here to stay. The filmmaker has handled the subject that belongs to one of the trickiest genres, with ease and conviction. Jofin, along with scriptwriters Shyam Menon and Deepu Pradeep, has delivered a riveting movie experience that will stay with the audiences for long.
The biggest plus point of The Priest is that the movie emerges as a wholesome horror experience beyond just jump scares. Even the characters with the least screen time make a mark in the narrative. Despite taking the audiences on an absolutely unpredictable ride, this Mammootty-starrer never gets over-indulgent at any point.
The storytelling demands the participation of viewers and compels them to think. Even though there are some moments where the plot seemed to lose its grip, it was back on track at the next moment.
Performances
Mammootty reminds us why he has always been considered as an actor before a star, with his extraordinary performance as Fr Benedict. The megastar succeeds in maintaining the mysterious aura around his character with his sheer brilliance in voice modulation and mannerisms.
Baby Monica, however, outshined all her co-stars, by playing Ameya to near perfection (special applause to voice artist Nileena Aneesh). The child actor gave us goosebumps at some of the most critical portions with her amazing acting skills. Manju Warrier, on the other hand, makes a mark in the brief role with her intense performance.
The rest of the star cast, including Nikhila Vimal, Venkitesh, TG Ravi, Ramesh Pisharody, Jagadish, Dinesh Panicker, and so on have perfectly played their parts.
Technical Aspects
Akhil George, the director of photography scores with the brilliant visualization of The Priest, which makes it the perfect big-screen experience. Shameer Muhammed has done a decent job with the editing except for a few scenes that fell into slow pace.
However, the music composed by Rahul Raj is unarguably the biggest plus point of the Mammootty-starrer. While soulful songs perfectly sink in with the narrative, it is the brilliant background score that acts as the backbone of this horror-mystery thriller.
Verdict
The Priest is a riveting mystery thriller that stays true to its genre. The excellent performances, making style, writing, and music make this Mammootty-starrer one of the finest horror experiences Malayalam cinema has ever provided. We are going with 3.5/5 stars.
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