Directed by Milind Rau and produced by Deepthi Govindarajan, Milind Rau and Deeraj Vaidy and produced by BS Radhakrishnan, the series stars Arya, Divya Pillai, George Maryan, Baby Aazhiya, John Kokken and Pooja Ramachandran in primary roles. The series has 6 episodes, each with a runtime of around 35 minutes.
– The Review Does Not Contain Spoilers –
Out on a road trip with his family, Gautham finds himself in a precarious position when past sins come to haunt him and his family. When his wife and daughter suddenly disappear, he takes the help of nearby villagers to find them, only to uncover shocking truths and the downsides of greed and ego.
Prime’s The Village continues to bring out the tried and tested horror stories to our screens for some reason, expecting the audience to be thrilled and child but not realising that Hollywood movies made these same sequences a few years ago and horror, as a genre, is now moving away from cringe stereotypes and absolutely unnecessary cliches.
Writers Deepthi Govindarajan, Milind Rau and Deeraj Vaidy, unfortunately, didn’t get that memo, and thus we have this absolutely annoying horror movie that is a blend of a thousand other movies featuring some abused poorer sections of society, some freaky natural (or supernatural) phenomenon and a protagonist who apparently didn’t get the memo not to be stupid when they find themselves in the perfect settings of a horror movie (or show).
Regardless, the storyline of the horror-thriller is the most cliched and bland thing I have watched in a while. Couple with horrendous special effects, the series doesn’t thrill or chill you, and neither does it leave you hooked. The thing is, if you aren’t afraid of the protagonist or the things happening to them in a horror show, then what is the point of watching it? Every scene of the show is just so run-of-the-mill and lacks any form of intensity. Also, there are about 20 different timelines and storylines that we follow for the present circumstances to make sense.
It’s not that complicated; in fact, it’s quite simple, but even then, the story lacks depth and flow. Several sequences are unnecessary and plain slow and take place for minutes on end, eventually, for it turns out to be a false scare or just nothing at all. They take away from the overall watchability of the series and make it a chore to go through, and even each episode’s 35-minute runtime isn’t able to save it from being absolutely dense with senseless plot points that are just so silly that everything stops making sense after a while.
In that context, it’s the third episode that truly goes off the rails and goes into a territory that is both insultingly stupid and hilariously cringe. It’s not just the awful special effects, which become more and more unbearable as the series goes on, but it’s also the plot that gets stupider towards the end. And I understand that the series mainly tries to focus on the good vs evil narrative, but there’s absolutely so little “good” happening in the episodes that you wait and watch for the action to happen.
Most of the runtime of The Village on Prime is spent on trying to find things. Whether it be the mercenaries and scientists searching for samples or Gautham searching for his missing wife and kid, people are just walking around a “spooky” forest and blabbering among themselves. Nothing happens in these settings, which is not only a wasted opportunity, but even the payoff in episodes 5 and 6 is absolutely awful.
The fifth episode is just a massive exposition dump and is also a longer watch than the rest. The exposition isn’t scary and is a mildly interesting storyline about how the rich bully the poor. Most of the storylines told throughout the runtime go nowhere, and the series could’ve worked as well without them. And in spite of people getting a good dose of justice served and whatnot, there is not a whiff of horror that anyone will get at any point. The series is boring at best and infuriatingly stupid at worst.
I was also constantly left shocked at the depravity and was left questioning the point of some of the plot points that come out of nowhere and go nowhere as well. Jagan’s odd revelation towards the end and Pn Sunny’s connection with Mala are nothing short of confusing, and the ways in which the women are treated in the series are honestly eyebrow-raising.
I am still unsure what the point of Arya’s Dr Gautham Subramanian is because he doesn’t do anything and only follows the villagers around for the majority of the show. His character makes terrible decisions, and you will be left annoyed, wondering why we are made to follow him. Poor Divya Pillai is hardly in the show and is mostly shown as a prisoner. The Prakash storyline, we could’ve done without, but we still got, I don’t know why.
The Village Review: Final Thoughts
I was at a loss for words at the end of this series because the storylines and the characters are stupid, and the protagonist is not worth following. I don’t know the point of the show yet – maybe I will find it someday.
The Village 2023 is streaming on Amazon Prime Video.