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“Naboer” – movie review


If you show this movie to David Cronenberg, he would have felt dispirited that the context was underutilised (could have been elevated to visceral proportions), but he would have (I presume), appreciated nonetheless.

There is a sense of isolation, gagging your sense of comprehension. The protagonist is seen, in his depressed state (victim of a breakup), confronted by two gorgeous (with apocryphal impulses) ladies. The apartment itself is tranquil, you will notice the creaking of the floor as occupants trot about; you will also notice the impending loneliness smothering our protagonist of his judgement. He is seen nervously befriended by the two ladies. Hesitance in his lending a hand, unusual preeminent method adapted by the ladies in drawing him into their den, boyish nervousness in the protagonist, and rhetorical mode of acquaintance building – this is a spooky movie that you would have always wanted to see but Hollywood, in its perpetual indulgence of nonsense, never obliged. And your standards of seeking spookiness shrunk before your very own eyes.

Story takes place between the neatly polished wooden walls; the floor before turquoise plated cupboards is littered with undergarments and linen; for the disoriented innards, carpet on the floor looks astonishingly neat. Slowly, the man who is scraping the floor of his residual energy (for he is reconciling with the break up), is drawn into the lives of the unnerving neighbourhood. 

What really caught my attention was the colour of the walls, the sofas, folded mattress on the bed, inside of cupboard, and the negligee that the seducing lady puts on - pale brown, as though they (the house, its contents and the occupants)were not exposed to sunlight in years.

All in all, a decent psychological thriller. I must admit, I was hoping for an elaborate furnace of a thriller, given the opening twenty minutes of the movie. But, as the story sinks in on us, the thrill slips off like a heavy drop does from the curve of the leaf. I found the length of the movie very appropriate, for post-disillusionment, it would have become annoying to watch the thriller end in vain inventions and interventions into the script. It was short for a spooky thriller. And I liked that.

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