Noah Ianchici

Excellent acting, amazing cinematography, good message, but writing wasn’t amazing IMO. SPOILERS: As the movie progresses, we learn about how important family is to the average Indian. So important that as a servant, you often think about how your actions may leave serious consequences on your family. Balram murdering Ashok and not properly dealing with the consequences of that decision for his family leaves a bit of a question mark. Furthermore, I understand he realized his family was basically leeching off of him for money, but was that reason enough for risking all his family’s lives over murdering his master? And then the way he deals with the murder is a brief scene of him saying he locked himself in a room for four weeks. To top it all off, Balram even reads a newspaper at the end of the film saying “family of 17 murdered in north region village.” It’s not confirmed if it his family or not, but it may be implied. He basically brushes that off and has an internal monologue. I understand the story is meant about how he escapes “the chicken coop,” and it’s a narrative on the social and political climate of India, but the end to justify the means really doesn’t sell it IMO. Overall, good film, weak ending.