The Priest (2021)

Actual rating: 4 stars. But after seeing the 10 star reviews by fan boys, I've reduced it to 1star to balance it. The posters and teasers looked promising. The idea of a priest being an investigator had so much potential. For me, Priest was disappointing from the get-go. Saniya Iyyappan's character came out of nowhere and Mammootty's reaction was so unrealistic. I'm sorry Saniya, but your dialogue delivery is so artificial. Narration scenes demands so much talent. For eg, the scene in AK where Anil narrates the story of "Mundoor Madan", and the scene from Lelam where Siddique narrates his past. The makeup on Mammootty's face was really visible. They used something to make his cheeks look pink. I don't know why.

The director deserves an applause for his making style. He did good for a debut. But the writing was so poor. The dialogues never had any conclusion. And they used background music as much as they could. Sorry to say, but adding background music can't make up for the poor writing. Mammootty and the little girl tries to carry the movie on their shoulders. But they couldn't save it either. Manju Warrier doesn't have much screen time. Nikhila Vimal's performance seemed artificial to me. So did her boyfriend's.

And I'm not sure if it was some problem with the theater, the sounds were too loud. The story of the first half is similar to one episode in Dexter, the series. The second half was the same old ghost story. Except they tried something which was shown in hollywood flicks like Conjuring. And there was a scene inspired from Doctor Strange. But that was well executed.

Dear horror film makers, a dark house and jump scares aren't enough to make a good horror movie. Try and come up with some new ideas. Director Jofin, you have talent. But you should work on your writing skills. Especially dialogues.

Fmovies: Do not watch, it's bad. Poor script nd poor direction.

First half seems attractive. Second half is disappointing.. Nothing special. Overrated film..

The Priest fmovies. #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.

The priest starring mamooty and manju warrier is a decent mystery horror thriller movie which can give a good theatre experience if you watch without any over expectation. The story revolves under fr. Carmen benedict who helps kerala police in some sort of mysterious cases. The major drawback of the film is its predictablity over the suspense and twists which was a key fact of a mystry thriller film. I think this film can satisfy the audience who sit to watch without any over expectation.

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.