By David Baldwin
Tulika (Tanya Maniktala) and Army Commando Amrit (Lakshya) are in love and plan to get married. The only problem is, Tulika is engaged to someone else and is on her way on the Rajdhani Express train to meet him in New Delhi. Amrit is on the train as well, as are a large number of bandits armed to the teeth with blades of all sizes. When the bandits start robbing the passengers and put Tulika in grave danger, Amrit and his commando friend Viresh spring into action.
KILL is fucking awesome. Period. There’s really no other succinct way to put it.
Writer/Director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat has crafted an edge of your seat Thriller that takes place almost entirely on a moving train and tells you very early on that it is not fucking around. If that was not enough to keep your blood pressure sky high, then the claustrophobic camera angles in the small train compartments and narrow hallways should do the trick. How Bhat was able to capture some of these incredibly-choreographed fight scenes is a minor mystery, with each one looking more intense than the last. The relentless barrage of bone-crushing, limb-snapping, brain splattering action scenes will not be for everyone – some moments are straight up the most vicious and graphically violent of the year, easily giving last year’s Midnight Madness fave Project Wolf Hunting a run for its money. For those who do revel in over-the-top gore and brutal fight scenes however, you need to put KILL at the top of your watchlist immediately.
Though some of the romance is ham-fisted and some of the familial bickering goes on too long, KILL is a blast from start to finish. Maniktala is great as Tulika, and Lakshya is terrific in his solemn, man of few words, star-making performance. He carries the movie with just his fierce eyes, his fighting stance and all the shocking things he does to the bodies of the bandits. Raghav Juyal does equally well as the villainous Fani, oozing charisma and swagger everywhere he goes. He is a wonderful foil for Lakshya’s Amrit and gets nearly all of the best lines.
Just make sure you KILL with a bunch of friends. Listening to the collective gasps, screams and clapping made for one of the best TIFF screening experiences ever.
KILL screens at TIFF ’23:
Friday, September 8 at 11:59 PM at Royal Alexandra Theatre
Saturday, September 9 at 9:10 PM at Scotiabank Theatre Toronto
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