Chathur Mukham: A well-made horror thriller that’s worth your time and money

‘Chathur Mukham’ has Sunny Wayne and Manju Warrier playing college mates who later team up to own a CCTV installation business. Manju Warrier’s Thejasvini is the protagonist here; a hardworking and ambitious young woman. A new smartphone she buys online brings all the trouble for her. A couple of eerie incidents and soon she senses something’s wrong with the phone. But everytime she tries to get ride of it, it keeps getting back to her somehow. With the help of Clement, a science scholar, Thejasvini and Antony (Sunny Wayne) try to find the mystery behind the phone and get her out of trouble.

The first half of ‘Chathur Mukham’ is absolutely thrilling and will keep you glued to the edge of the seat till the revelation is made. The knots are unwound smartly till then and keeps the guessing game on. Scenarists K Abhayakumar and Anil Kurian must’ve done some vast research to get the technicalities right. Ultimately, what they’ve tried to achieve here is to find a solution to something that’s beyond science with the help of science. Though the backstory angle is generic and doesn’t have anything exciting, the makers still manage to hold the grip.

Manju Warrier’s fantastic performance is the film’s backbone. It is her arresting performance that takes the thrills to the audience. While Alenicer does his part well, Sunny Wayne was mostly stiff in a weakly written character. Directors Ranjeet Kamala Sankar and Salil V have shown great promise. They have steered clear of most of the horror-thriller templates that we are used t in Malayalam cinema. The fact that they attempted to make something original is in itself commendable. They’re also well aided by a good technical team. Cinematography and sound design are always an integral part of horror films and in ‘Chathur Mukham’, they’re employed to great effect.

‘Chathur Mukham’ is a skillfully made film that has an intriguing concept and some fresh ideas. A big screen experience is recommended.