Mrs Serial Killer Movie Review: When you have to make a dark, serial killer film, either go all the way macabre or don't go that path at all. The middle-path is always the problem. Shirish Kunder's new thriller, Mrs Serial Killer, that is streaming on Netflix, has a catchy name and a catchy premise as well, but the content takes the middle path - the movie's ambition is to go dark, but baulks before it could get there, thereby turning out to be a very lame thriller. And with an atrociously awful performance from its main lead, it looks like Netflix can't get rid of its reputation of attracting trashy Bollywood originals. Mrs Serial Killer Review: Jacqueline Fernandez's Netflix Release Gets all the Unwanted Reactions and a Big Thumbs Down from Twitterati.

Sona Mukherjee (Jacqueline Fernandez) is Mrs Serial Killer. Her gynaecologist husband, Dr Mrityunjoy (that name itself sounds ominous, and in a way, prophetic too), played by Manoj Bajpayee, is accused of kidnapping, mutilating and killing six single pregnant girls, and is arrested for the crime, even though he maintains his innocence. The investigating officer is Imran Shahid (Mohit Raina), who shares a history with Sona, and therefore, she thinks, has a grudge against Mrityunjoy.

Sona, who is also pregnant, seeks the help of her husband's lawyer (Darshan Jariwala), who suggests that he can be proven innocent, if another girl is kidnapped and killed using the same modus operandus. When Mrityunjoy is assaulted by his fellow inmates, Sona decides to carry out the lawyer's advice, finding her first victim in a young, pregnant girl (Zayn Marie Khan). But can Sona find in herself to be a serial killer? If her husband is innocent, then who is killing the girls? Why does Manoj Bajpayee tend to go hammy in films that he realise are way too dumb?

Well, you can't say Mrs Serial Killer didn't warn you of how bad it is, for, in the first sequence, after struggling to get an expression right, Jacqueline tells a character, 'You haven't seen the torture yet. Now you will!" I still am trying to fathom if that line was for the audience or for the actress herself, who just couldn't keep up with the demands of the role. But more on her later. Mrs Serial Killer: Meet Jacqueline Fernandez, Manoj Bajpayee and Mohit Raina's Characters From the Upcoming Netflix Thriller.

There is something whimsical about Shirish Kunder and the kind of film he writes and directs. Kunder has a good sense of humour; you can check his Twitter timeline for that. He has an eye for choosing quirky premises as subjects for his films. However, that whimsicality doesn't often translate to a good film.

Mrs Serial Killer has him don several hats. He not only has written, edited and directed the film, but also provided the background score. Sadly, it is only in the last aspect, that he has done some kind of justice, even though the score feels inspired at several points.

The content of the film actually could have contained within half an hour, but taxes our patience for an hour and more. Mrs Serial Killer doesn't begin bad. The whole setup is intriguing, as it leaves you in suspense about the doctor's innocence, his wife's extreme determination and the cop's ambiguity. Actually, toss the first one out, for Manoj Bajpayee's grin and his fake hairdo make it harder to believe that he is innocent than the evidence on display against his character.

Once the film settles in, though, it quickly becomes messier, and often unintentionally hilarious, like Sona's struggles to kidnap her 'victim' that involves the latter going all slo-mo Taekwondo on the former. I could have acquitted Kunder of going deliberately comical in those scenes, if the movie wasn't taking itself so seriously. What were supposed to be best parts of the movie turns out to its worst, as acting, direction, writing and editing all go for a toss.

The scenes between Sona and her would-be victim are ridiculously bad and senseless, and I am not just talking about their performances. Why does the abducted girl behave as if she is going through some college hazing rather someone fearing to get killed? Why does she not escape from the place when she had the chance instead of acting like someone in an exorcism movie, at one point, hanging on top of the corner of a room? There was a mildly intriguing point about Sona conversing with her unborn baby about her moral conflict that is abandoned after three scenes. Just like any modicum of logic that the writing has.

By the time the ludicrous climax arrives with its very obvious twist and brings all the main characters under one roof, along with the pregnant girl's moronic boyfriend (an actor who competes with Jacqueline for being the worst of the bunch) - you realise there is no redeemable, likeable character in the film, serial killer, Mrs Serial Killer or otherwise. And the last scene even has the audacity to suggest that it wants to go the sequel way. Well, at least, there was some fun in seeing Bajpayee's manic performance in the finale. Also, what was the obsession of the film on splashing psychedelic lights on the characters?

Watch The Trailer of Mrs Serial Killer below:

After last year's Drive (another Netflix travesty), it is yet another disappointing show from Jacqueline Fernandez, whose clipped Hindi is equally out of place in the film as the star herself. This is the kind of role that demanded an actress who could convincingly portray complicated moral feelings, and that's something not in Jacky's kitty. As for Mohit Raina, the former television star is wasted in an underwritten part.

Yay!

- Errr....

Nay!

- Duh!

Final Thoughts

Mrs Serial Killer fails to embrace its twisted, grisly setting and turns out to be Shirish Kunder's worst film to date. Considering he had made Joker (no, not the Joaquin Phoenix one, but the Akshay Kumar atrocity) in the past, that's saying something!

Rating:1.0

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 01, 2020 06:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).