If you’re not familiar with Radhika Apte, take note: The award-winning Indian performer dazzles in her latest feature film, a hilarious study of modern marriage and the stigmas surrounding it. From writer-director Karan Kandhari, a London-based Indian artist,Sister Midnightshould be your next watch as a well-rounded cinephile.
Fans ofdeadpan comedyshould also take note, because it’s everywhere inSister Midnight. And Kandhari boosts the technique by ridding certain laugh-out-loud stretches of any sort of musical accompaniment. Overall, the film’s thrillingly cringe sense of humor paints a grim picture of a marriage in crisis, though our heroine ultimately achieves some sort of resolution. Maybe you, too, will find some inspiration in her wild journey.
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Honeymoon Phase? Think Again
Sister Midnight
Wes Anderson’sThe Darjeeling Limitedwas primarily set in India, and similar comedic rhythms are echoed inSister Midnight.Even the smooth tracking shots and dynamic framing in Kandhari’s new film are reminiscent of Anderson’s visual style, so one has to wonder how much influence the American auteur had on the film. Still,Sister Midnightgrabs you right from the get-go, introducing a foul-mouthed lead heroine, Uma (Apte), arriving in Mumbai for an arranged marriage to the mumbling and heavy-drinking Gopal (a relentlessly droll Ashok Pathak).
Uma revels early on by firing back at her lackadaisical hubby when Gopal tries to dodge her questions about his whereabouts. She even fires off wildly inappropriate expletives, refusing to act like the sheltered wife she’s supposed to represent. Nonetheless, Uma wants to make this marriage work, and her conflicting feelings make her quite relatable for viewers. You don’t have to be a Mumbai resident to connect with her, feeling out of place in an up-and-down relationship. And just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she automatically knows how to cook — Uma’s expression is hilarious when she approaches the kitchen with no idea where to start. She seeks advice from her neighbor Sheetal (Chbaya Kadam), who shows Uma a “cheat sheet” on how to make basic dishes feel more filling than they actually are.
But more trouble lies ahead once Uma and Gopal venture off to social gatherings, including a wedding from hell and a double date to the blistering beach. Both of them go terribly wrong, as Uma sees through the B.S. and drags her hubby away from it all. Before long, however, Uma falls violently ill. Is it the food in Mumbai? Or is the city’s extreme heat and noise getting to her? Maybe it’s just a symbolic manifestation of her distaste for her new circumstances? Since Gopal is useless as a husband, it’s refreshing to see Uma take matters into her own hands and find her own solace in Mumbai’s most unlikely places.
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DomesticateThis
With a title likeSister Midnight, it’s not a shocker when Uma ventures into the night for a taste of freedom. Feisty species, like loudmouthed goats, populate the city around her. And they take a strange liking to Uma, whose physical presence becomes animalistic as well. Director Kandhari chooses to capture the livestock that surround the protagonist useing purposefully jarring stop-motion, which might take some viewers out of the film. But for open-minded viewers, it’s a bold move for a bold film making groundbreaking, unpredictable choices. Uma’s initial spiraling into animalistic madness is so shocking that viewers will be left begging for more.
Unfortunately, Kandhari opts to continue using stop-motion, and the repetitive beats are a bit of a letdown by the end. So much promise is set up in the first and second acts that the conclusion feels like a fizzle-out instead. Nevertheless,Sister Midnightnever feels drawn out, and it helps that the needle drops are a hoot. One example is the timeless song “The Weight” by The Band, which at first feels jarring but ultimately fits right in with the thought-provoking, even perplexing, narrative. And Apte is a tour de force whose performance will hopefully lead to her appearing in North American projects down the line.
From Magnet Releasing,Sister Midnightis now playing in select theaters and opens in Los Angeles on Friday.
