Ezra movie review: A Watchable Horror Film with Highs and Lows

Ezra directed by Jay K has a very intriguing first half to its credit. It may have the usual formula elements of horror films, but with a main conflict that looks original, Ezra succeeds in being a promising one. But in the second half the film gets grumpy. By the time you see a particular exorcism sequence towards the end of the film, the excitement factor gets drained out. Ezra definitely watchable because technically, it looks sound.

Our main protagonist Ranjan comes to Kochi to work for a firm who is doing the nuclear waste management. His wife Priya is an interior designer and she bought a Dybbuk as part of making the home grand. Obviously it creates issues and the film Ezra depicts all the torture the couple had to go through to get rid of this Dybbuk.

Almost all the horror movies I have seen has these clichés of people walking around in scary scenarios, not turning on lights, wind getting blown, mirrors getting broken etc. If you tend to criticize such aspects, it is more like criticizing a genre. So let’s keep it a side. Ezra may have all this but it looks grand on canvas. The production value creates an impression about the film. Like I said, the conflict that arises at the end of the first half is a smart and emotional one. Post interval the film has flaws. The whole flashback sequence got affected by bad acting of almost everyone in that portion. The climax portion is an extensive one involving many stunts, but the sort of exhilarating feel it was supposed to create was not there.

The causal life of Ranjan was performed neatly by Prithviraj. But in the second half his character has a lot of emotional burdens and the actor fumbles a bit in portraying those portions. Priya Anand is just okay and you can clearly see her dubbing wasn’t really working. Vijayaraghavan was good and so was Sujith Shanker who was dubbed by Sunny Wayne. Tovino Thomas was good in the cameo role while state award winner Sudev Nair disappointed me with his dramatic performance.

Jay K is definitely a promising talent as he has managed to create a visual experience through this film. Where he failed was in the writing and making of the last 45 minutes or so of the film where the excitement wasn’t really there. Cinematography is superb and the cuts were perfect. Loved the music and the BGM fitted the mood of the film.
Ezra should be watched in a theater. Making us feel scared is one aim of the film and it definitely succeeds in that. Ezra has flaws for sure, but it isn’t an entirely flawed cinema

Watch: Ezra trailer