CTRL Review: Ananya Panday Film Misses The Mark To Become A Potentially Engaging Screenlife Thriller!
Ananya Panday and Vihaan Samat starrer CTRL is directed by Vikramaditya Motwane. Read our review here.
2.5 / 5
We are well aware of the extremities of living in a digital world where our life revolves around apps and passwords only, thanks to some scary films which have instilled this fear a little deep. Vikramaditya Motwane also attempts to show the horrors in the AI-dominated world through his recently released film CTRL which is a screenlife thriller. The film stars Ananya Panday and Vihaan Samat in lead roles. However, did CTRL end up becoming an engaging watch on this much-talked-about topic of AI? From a plot POV, I would say NO but it did leave me impressed in bits and parts. The film also comes with a bunch of okayish performances that again made me say, okay, I have seen that before. Here’s a detailed review of CTRL.
Plot
The story begins by introducing us to an influencer couple Nella (Ananya Panday) and Joe (Vihaan Samat) who are apparently in love, but well, just for social media because things take a drastic turn when Nella finds him cheating on her.
Nella resorts to an AI app called CTRL and gives it control over her life. The app helps her delete the digital history with Joe but it gets scarier (not as much as you would think) when Joe disappears in reality too.
While looking for Joe, Nella discovers a secret project that her ex-boyfriend was working on and realises that it could have been the reason behind his disappearance. Nella finds out that Joe was collecting some crucial information against a tech giant called Mantra Unlimited and was planning to unmask their illegal practice of data breach.
Storyline
The story around AI and data breaches lacked the depth it needed. CTRL to me only becomes a funny story instead of being a substantial plot on the risks of being consumed by an AI -dominated digital space. On some levels, I also questioned the sheer naivety of the plot. I was expecting the film to give me something more than what I already don’t know about this digital space and how private data is at the mercy of tech giants. However, all I get is a story that is a simple tale of an influencer who puts his life in danger to uncover the dark realities of a big tech company only to have an ending as unrealistic as possible. The film’s story does not explore its themes well, and that only left me disappointed.
Especially the second half gets as frivolous as possible. After Nella tries to uncover the truth that her ex-boyfriend is working, she falls into a risky trap, and the consequences of it couldn’t be more predictable.
Storytelling
The storytelling of CTRL is certainly not engaging except in a few scenes. This is heavily overpowered by the weak plot. The eeriness and discomfort that I would have wanted to feel from a film that warned me of the dangers in the digital world lacked big time. I think this was mostly because I kept questioning the seriousness of the plot.
This brings me to the next point which is that I could not relate to the emotions of any character in the film despite the performances being average and one of the driving forces too.
The Visuals
The entire strength of the film falls on the smart decision to make it a screenlife thriller. The film visually appealed to me and I found myself enjoying the film mostly because of that. The first few minutes of the film are solely dedicated to showing Nella and Joe’s Instagrammable life and I felt like a part of being one of their followers. Most of the film happens on a phone or laptop screen and it’s interesting to watch. Other films that have previously followed a similar pattern are Missing, Searching and LSD by Dibakar Banerjee, and even CTRL does not disappoint that way.
Fun Cameos
I also liked the incorporation of making CTRL look very similar to what’s currently happening in the Instagram world. The surprise element of adding the bits where Yashraj Mukhate makes a fun song on Nella’s viral breakup video or Tanmay Bhatt reacts were elements that I appreciated.
Performances
Ananya Panday plays the extended version of her character from Kho Gaye Hum Kahan and well, after playing it several times, she is certainly become comfortable in this space now. While she is good in the film, you can’t help but want more of her when it comes to acting. The plot revolves around Nella and therefore, Ananya Panday becomes an anchor in the film and pulls off the character easily.
Vihaan Samat has a monologue in this film and that’s the scene where his acting prowess shines. The actor shares a comfortable screen space with Ananya Panday, given that they recently worked in Call Me Bae too.
Verdict: Ananya Panday Delivers Decent Performance In This Predictable Screenlife Thriller
Vikramaditya Motwane’s film CTRL has to be appreciated for packaging a weak plot in a very interesting way. The attempt to make this film a screenlife thriller was cool and one of the elements that kept me engaged. From a story angle, CTRL does not give out anything new nor did it pass the test of scaring the hell out of me for living in this digital world. Ananya Panday and Vihaan Samat have delivered decent performances and it’s also not a very lengthy film, so that’s a bonus. CTRL is currently streaming on Netflix.
First Published: October 04, 2024 2:11 PM
