LIFT Movie Review: Kavin and Amritha Aiyer's Supernatural Thriller is Effectively Spooky Even If Stretched! (LatestLY Exclusive)

LIFT Movie Review: Tamil Cinema's love for horror movies is unparalleled when it comes to rest of the movie industries in this country. Nearly every couple of weeks, we have a movie coming out either in the pure horror genre, or in the horror-comedy genre. This week it is the turn of Vineeth Varaprasad's LIFT, starring Kavin and Amritha Aiyer in the lead, to scare us. Does it do a good job at that? Decent enough, I must say! Lift: Kavin and Amritha’s Film To Release on Disney+ Hotstar; Trailer To Be Out on September 24!

Kavin plays Guru Prasad, a workaholic IT engineer who joins a company called Amrak in Chennai as a Team Lead. Amritha Aiyer is Harini, a HR professional working in the same company, who had a spat with Guru in the past, but now instantly develops a crush on him. Because that's what happens to a hero in a Tamil movie.

But LIFT is not a hero-glorifying romcom, though the first tepid 15 minutes or so give out such impression. After the intriguing opening scene involving a dead body in an elevator, the first impression that something is not right in this company is when Harini tries out a Snapchat filter. More scary fun arrives, when Guru does overtime to finish his project, and finds himself to be the last person leaving the office. Only that his office doesn't allow him to leave! Talk about overworking corporate conditions!

Though in the case of Guru, it is a spooky entity who does that honour by haunting and taunting him first in the titular Lift, and then through the corridors of the office. Have to say, I was totally hooked in these portions, when Guru was put through a wringer by the invisible entity, especially the sequence with the headless ghost and one involving shoes without any body. Even the sequence involving a security guard was chilling.

The director Vineeth also seems to be influenced by those (hoax?) YouTube videos of CCTV recordings capturing paranormal happenings in an empty office. Nothing wrong in that, when it allows your film to be spookier.

There is hardly any doubt that these events that should have emotionally and psychologically scarred Guru, which is why I had a little problem with what happens next. Guru realises he is not the only office employee trapped in the building, when he discovers Harini mysteriously locked in the storage room. Together, they team up to survive the night, though whatever is haunting them has other plans.

Watch the Trailer:

When Guru reunites with Harini, the intrigue gets further elevated, but in allowing the characters to bounce wisecracks at each other, it felt like LIFT isn't taking its horror element seriously enough. It also doesn't help that the scares get tiringly repetitive and stretched for way too long. For a film with such a contained setting and a one-liner plot, LIFT shouldn't have been more than two hours long.

There are also certain plotholes that doesn't make sense even for a horror movie like this. Like for example, Harini's first taste about paranormal activity (she thinks getting locked was Guru's prank) was when she climbs down the stairs only to reach the same floor she left (Guru's reaction to her predicament is hilarious)! But when the ghost doesn't respond to her silly 'Charlie, Charlie' ouija game, she believes there is nothing wrong actually!

That is the first of the many problems I have with Harini's character, though Amritha Aiyer has done a good enough job as the Scream Queen here. Harini doesn't bring much to the equation, other than adding a female presence, act scared - effectively at that - and be someone in need for rescue. I wish that she brought more brains into her own rescue, instead of needlessly relying on the man with her, and occasionally also screwing up things for him.

Even the ghosts often act out of character. At times, they are in complete control of the situation, knowing every whereabout of the protagonists, and at times, they act very oblivious. They can change the entire physics of a building, turns stairs into mazes of no exit and have doors disappear, but that happens more out of plot convenience than anything else. The spirits carry out two murders instantly in the building, yet they keep toying with Harini and Guru, despite getting many, many opportunities to kill them. Why?

Still, thanks to some neat direction, and some terrific cinematography and rivetting background score, LIFT is very engaging while it last. Another major factor for why LIFT is arresting is the performance of Kavin, who carries the film throughout even when he has to be cowering in fright in the corner of that lift. Even he has to act uncharastically funny (contrary to what the situation demands), it is the sincerity in his performance that doesn't make the scene feel awkward. He gets a good foil in Amritha, though like I said before, the writing around her character is irksome. Bigil Fame Amritha Aiyer Turns a Year Older! Actress Thanks Her ‘Producers’ with a Heartfelt Note.

The finale, and the epilogue that dispel the mystery is very weak. Even before the finale arrives, there is hardly any doubt that LIFT is a sly criticism on the overworking pressures and conditions at IT companies, but do you have to drop that pretence and be so sermonising on the same in the finale? Without the need to refer to real-life suicides of IT employees, you could have wrapped up your story neatly and more effectively.

Yay!

- Intriguing and Thrilling in Parts

- The Performances of the Actors, Especially Kavin

- Cinematography and BG score

Nay!

- The First Act and the Finale is disappointing

- The Infusion of Humour Felt Jarring

- Harini's Character Need More Panache

Final Thoughts

As a scare-fest, LIFT may rely on predictable jump scares and needless sermonising. But it is still an effective and engaging thriller, even in parts, boosted by the performances of its lead actors. LIFT is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 01, 2021 02:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).