You know what Bollywood needs? A good horror. An internationally viewed and respected horror with dancing zombies or werewolves or whatever simply dying to entertain. I’m thinking “Thriller” in Hindi, but more upbeat. It would do wonders for both genres. In the meantime, it is nice to know India is not above making horror films, like the film of the day, Sister Midnight. Although, it is baffling to know what went on in writer/director Karan Kandhari’s mind when this film was being made.
Uma (Radhika Apte) and Gopal (Ashok Pathak) are both unimpressed with their new marriage. It was arranged, of course. These two are strangers to one another as the film opens. While this appears to be a traditional arrangement, she doesn’t have any homemaking skills and he doesn’t have any money. They have located in a one-room apartment where all of their shortcomings are on immediate display. On top of this, neither seems terribly interested in having sex prompting the question: Why did you guys get married?
This arrangement seems more like a reality show pairing than anything normal humans would come up with.
Gopal leaves for half-a-day at a time, leaving Uma without money or resources. This works out, as she can’t cook, and has to learn the trade while he’s away. When they are together, the new couple
is awkward. Uma has to force most everything out of Gopal, who gives up neither a sou nor an opinion without a minor struggle. Eventually, Uma learns how to cook a little, which should have led to a smoother relationship, except that it doesn’t because she has developed a taste for blood. Literally.
The film doesn’t get any more palatable beyond this point.
Sister Midnight comes off as weird. Really, really weird. I think the material here was better expressed in Nightbitch. In addition, Nightbitch had a much better idea of what it wanted to say. Sister Midnight isn’t without entertainment, but it takes a rather unique personality to find such macabre material either entertaining or amusing. This was easily the most challenging film I saw at HIFF in 2024, and I welcome more like it … but perhaps not more than one or two more per year at that.
There once was a housewife named Uma
Who knew not lentil from satsuma
But she got on a roll
Sucking live beings whole
And now has the palate of a puma
Not Rated, 110 Minutes
Director: Karan Kandhari
Writer: Karan Kandhari
Genre: WTF?!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: People with a very, very black sense of humor
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: “Good Lord, what’s going on here?”
