Wednesday, July 5, 2023

A Movie You Might Have Missed #85: U Turn (2016)

It's been 12 years since I began this series highlighting movies I wished more people knew about. I'm rerunning it from the beginning because I still think these are movies you might have missed.

Rachana, a young reporter, is dismayed at the number of illegal u-turns and resulting traffic accidents, and she wants to write a story about it. In pursuing a lead, she finds herself in the middle of a police case dealing with a series of murders. While freeing herself of false accusations, she becomes part of the investigation process. What is behind the mysterious deaths and how are they are all connected to the flyover road?

This thriller is perfect for the wind up to Halloween. One of the most shocking things about it is something that Western audiences will find inexplicable — to have the divider between opposite sides of a highway made simply of large bricks which anyone can move so they can do a U-turn anywhere they feel like it. This blew our minds.

It is the number of U-turns which the young reporter, Rachana, is investigating. Her theory is that this leads to a lot of accidents and deaths. She's right, but not in the way that she originally thinks. Strangely tied to a number of deaths, the unfolding mystery was really intriguing and well told. Keep your eyes open for the number of "U"s showing up, including the beginning where we are upside down and do a u-turn to see the road right side up. 

I can see why this movie is on so many "must see" lists. It is a great thriller and since it is Indian, it is also not too gory.

Note: a "flyover" is what we would call an overpass. That took us a little while to figure out.

Streaming on Netflix now. This is the original which is in the Kannada language. It has since been remade in three other Indian languages.

No comments:

Post a Comment