Cold Case: A murder mystery that’s hardly engaging

Cold Case: A murder mystery that’s hardly engaging

‘Cold Case’ starring Prithviraj and Aditi Ravi as the leads is out on Amazon Prime Video. The film is directed by debutant Tanu Balak and scripted by Sreenath V Nath.

A mutilated skull packed in a garbage bag is found from a lake in the Home Minister’s constituency. This leads to media attention and the government faces stiff pressure from the opposition parties. A new team is formed and ACP Sathyajith heads the investigation. Parallelly, there’s Medha, a single mother working as a TV journalist, who rents a new house. She is haunted by some spooky events in the new place. Being a journalist who specializes in paranormal stories, she heads out to find out the reason behind that. Eventually, both Sathyajith and Medha land at the same point. Do they manage to crack the puzzles and find a reason behind the paranormal activities forms the rest of the plot.

‘Cold Case’ takes a lot of time to get to the gripping part and by then, half the damage is done. The dialogues, particularly the ones between Medha and her family, are heavily dramatic. They don’t come organically but are employed just to give away information about the characters and their current state of mind. Also, the narrative is overloaded with clichés. Right from the creepy doll to nightmare sequences to unnecessary jump scares, the screenplay checks all the boxes that we normally associate with this genre.

On the other hand, the investigation part is more real as it moves like a proper police procedural. The cops get things done through the right channels without any over-the-top brilliance or heroism. Again there’s a lack of freshness and ingenuity to keep the audience guessing. Had the focus been solely on the police investigation alone with more novelty, the film might have ended up better.

On the performance side, hardly anyone manages to make an impact. Maybe to portray him as a upright and focussed officer, Prithviraj carries a single serious expression throughout the film. Aditi Balan, who was sensational in ‘Aruvi’, also doesn’t get anything meaty. Watching the late Anil Nedumangad on screen is sure to sting though.

Overall, ‘Cold Case’, as the name goes, is cold and damp. Nothing remarkable but should help killing time.