Like the myriad other things made possible online by the deadly coronavirus, Connect adds demonic possession and exorcism to the list, notes S. Saraswathi.

With the threat of another wave of COVID looming, director Ashwin Saravanan has spot on the timing of his film’s release. Connect.

Connect takes us back to those frighteningly uncertain times during the first outbreak of the virus.

This fear sensitizes us to the main characters of the film and the horror and helplessness of the situation in which they find themselves.

Against the background of the initial complete lockdown, the film tells the ordeal of a happy family whose world is completely destroyed in a few weeks.

Joseph (Vinay Rai), a kind and caring doctor, has a crush on his daughter Anna (Haniya Nafis), a budding musician.

Nayanthara plays his wife Susan and Arthur (Sathyaraj) is his father-in-law.

In the very first scene, the coronavirus interrupts the family’s beach vacation when Joseph is called to the hospital.

Joseph contracted the disease and eventually succumbed to it.

With Susan and Anna stuck at home, the family is in despair. But more importantly, there is neither acceptance nor closure – a feeling that touches a chord.

Unfortunately, the director is unable to maintain the same connection as the film begins to unravel.

The focus is on the technical details: the loud eerie sounds, the infinite darkness, the spooky lighting techniques, and other common movie paraphernalia that inspire horror.

Then Susan and Anna also contract the virus and are quarantined at home.

What happens to them over the next 14 days of their quarantine forms the core of the story.

Anna needs that one last moment with her father before she can let go.

Like the myriad other things made possible online by the deadly coronavirus, Connect adds demonic possession and exorcism to the list.

Trying to reach her father with a Ouija board and an evil online psychic, Anna is unknowingly trapped in a nightmare.

Divine Intervention comes in the form of Anupam Kher, who plays a priest from Mumbai.

The film moves predictably and there is no element of tension.

There are a few lighter moments, good sound effects and a nice song, but one would have expected more from an old hand like Ashwin Saravanan.

His previous films like Mayaalso with Nayanthara and Taapsee Pannu’s game overkept you on your toes from start to finish.

What works for the film are the video calls through which the narrative progresses. We always look at the scene not only through the lens of a character’s phone camera, but also from that character’s perspective. Not to mention the beautiful message of hope and faith and the need to keep going to heal.

But if you’re a fan of horror movies, Ashwin Saravanan Connect will fall short of expectations.

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