Game Over - Movie Review

What’s it about?
Swapna is a gaming professional. She had a traumatic experience on the night of December 31st and is now leading a lonely existence though she has the help of a housemaid and a watchman. She panics frequently whenever she sees dark. It is because of the ‘anniversary reaction’, a physiological problem resulted out of a past trauma. Can she be brave when she is about to go a similar incident? What inspires her to fight back?

Analysis
‘Game Over’ begins with the murder of a girl in 2017 in Shamirpet in Hyderabad. It was a gruesome murder, her head was beheaded, her body was burnt and all of this was recorded on video by faceless culprits. Then the movie shifts to 2018 in Kokapet of Hyderabad where Swapna is residing. Thus Taapsee’s story, her gaming life, her panic situations start unfolding. Only towards the interval, we get to see a clear picture of the story – that she is facing post-traumatic problems and the incident that took on December 31st made her not to be in touch with her parents and she is trying to overcome her problems. It is also revealed that there is a gang that tortures young women who get inked Tattoo on their body. There is lot more to talk about Tapsee’s trauma but then we would have to reveal all the twists and turns.
Director Ashwin Saravanan has structured the film in different fashion within the set-up of generic House invasion or secluded house. At one point, we don’t understand what is really happening, all those bits and pieces. Also we don’t get whether Swapna (Taapsee) is dreaming all these or they are real moments. But all these make sense in the end. This is new way of telling the déjà vu sequences in the pattern of game.

From para normal sequences, video game themes, psychological thriller scenes to revenge elements, ‘Game Over’ hops on various genres but it still looks entirely novel.
There is a wall sign in one sequence in Taapsee’s house that reads like ‘What if life is a video game and deja vu are just check points’. This hints what this film is all about, how Taapsee overcomes her fears and trauma.

The film has very crisp runtime, still the middle portion slackens and becomes repetitive. Before the interval, some slow episodes put off. Thankfully the post-interval sequences are gripping and riveting. The director focuses on aftermath of the traumatic incident rather than showing the incident, and he also doesn’t reveal the faces of the gang.

Taapsee has given another competent performance. Exhibiting both the shades of a girl going through trauma and a brave woman to take on the culprits, she has pulled off the role convincingly. Vinodini, the actress who has played the role of Kalamma the housemaid, has given superb performance. After Taapsee, she hogs most space in the movie. Anish Kuruvilla as phycologist is good.

The film is very sound on technical department. In fact, sound designing and the music are the main pillars of this thriller. Camera work is excellent as it has carried the mood throughout and the background score has elevated the mood further. Sound design is major asset. Editing is crucial to this kind of movies and the movie with short runtime makes it engaging.

Director Ashwin has included the contemporary issues in his game-like revenge drama to provide new feel and he is a talent to watch out.

Bottom-line: ‘Game Over’ is anything like we have seen before, talks about a traumatic girl, and uses many genre elements from paranormal to horror thriller tropes to narrate a story about a girl’s fight. Aided by impeccable performance from Taapsee, the thriller makes an engaging watch.