Y (2017) Reviews

• Molecule Review: Y

  TejasNair2018-04-22

  Sunil Ibrahim's Y starts off very well and promises to be a thrilling watch but is is hugely let down by its lukewarm climax. Narrating an intertwined story of strangers living in and around a highrise in Kerala who confront each other after a young woman is abducted in broad light. With relatively lesser known actors playing lead roles (with the exception of Alencier Lopez), the film stitches its story like a suspense thriller. There is enough going on for an average viewer to watch and appreciate as the plot exists to critique the status quo of today's unempathetic world. That people do not care or act in cases of crisis (as the one sampled here), and other social issues like police apathy and unethicality of news channel journalists, are what Y tries to show. Does it succeed? Not really, because apart from the amateur acting, the screenplay gives more weight to the final twist and banks on it to entertain its viewers. Sure, it is entertaining, but does it match to what preceded it? Not really. Director Ibrahim may have used the setup as a way to touch themes of police carelessness, moral policing, and eve-teasing, but the climax makes it look like he is a fan of short story writer O Henry. Y suffers from a lot of plot holes and depicts a story that looks staged, giving me no great reason to recommend it. We have seen such types of films before in Malayalam cinema, and to say that this one is different does not hold true. TN.