Baramulla Review: Manav Kaul's Haunting Ode to Loss, Memory, and Exile
Manav Kaul delivers one of his most haunting performances yet in Baramulla, a Netflix film exploring horror beyond ghosts—rooted in grief, memory, and the pain of exile. This chilling tale reflects on loss and belonging in the Kashmir Valley.
Baramulla avoids typical horror elements like jump scares or shadows. Instead, it confronts a deeper terror: the horror of separation, losing one's identity, and being uprooted from the land that once shaped you.
Plot Overview
The story follows DSP Ridwaan Sayyed (Kaul), a determined officer investigating mysterious disappearances in Baramulla, Kashmir. Children vanish without a trace, with their scissor-cut hair left behind as the only clue.
As Ridwaan digs deeper, the investigation shifts from a straightforward procedural into a complex exploration of history’s unhealed wounds and the silenced sorrows of displaced people.
Thematic Depth
Baramulla builds dread not through supernatural means, but through the power of memory itself. What starts as a political procedural gradually turns inward, uncovering profound anguish, remembrance, and revelation.
'Baramulla' is not spooky, it's far more unsettling than that. It doesn't deal in jump scares or shadows, but in a greater horror – the horror of separation, of losing one's identity, of being uprooted from the soil that once defined you.
Manav Kaul's chilling new film on Netflix may appear, at first glance, to be a horror thriller. But it soon reveals itself as something deeper, a meditation on grief, exile, and the ghosts of a homeland long-lost.
This film is a powerful reminder of the enduring pain caused by displacement and serves as a profound meditation on memory and belonging.
Would you prefer the tone to be more formal or conversational?