Latest Netflix release The Girl on the Train, supposedly a dark thriller, is the remake of a book and Hollywood movie with the same name. With Parineeti Chopra in lead, directed by Ribhu Dasgupta the movie is about a murder and its investigation but fails to keep up the thrill and interest.
Plot
Mira Kapoor (Parineeti) who plays “The girl in the train” is a lawyer, married to Shekhar (Avinash Tiwari). The couple part their ways after an unfortunate incident and it leaves Mira shattered, depressed and leads her to alcoholism.
To add to Mira’s problems she discovers that she suffers from Amnesia and has troubles remembering the past incidents. She is continuously reminded by Shekhar how she misbehaves or becomes aggressive while she is drunk to ensure she is aware of what happened.
Mira travels via the train everyday and on her way she always comes across a house where she sees Nusrat (Aditi Rao Hayadri). She develops a connection with Nusrat, her happy and content life. Nusrat’s life is all what Mira has always wanted her ideal life to be and she in a way gets obsessed with her.
One day Nusrat’s dead body is discovered in the forest and all the clues point towards Mira. Enters Inspector Kaur (Kriti Kulhari), the lead investigator and she starts pressing on Mira as the culprit.
Mira as usual doesn’t remember anything about the night before and now is on the run. Did Mira do it or is someone trying to frame her. There is a blackmailer as well, who is he, what is he having based on which he is blackmailing Nusrat and then Mira, Does Mira surrender and how does police get to the bottom of the case is how the rest of the film proceeds.
Hits
Not much works for the film though. The film had an interesting premise, a good recipe for an edge of the seat thriller. The production values are high. As the film is shot in and nearby London has very beautiful locations.
Misses
The Girl on the Train has a lot that doesn’t work for it. The plot though engaging the screenplay is a big letdown and never succeeds in holding the attention of viewers. The slow place of the movie and a very confused treatment robs the movie of any thrill.
The film has many loose ends which do not seem justified or logical. The obsession of Mira with Nusrat feels so far fetched. The police investigations seem pretty superficial and are not at all engaging.
The film loses its grips very early and a lot of sequences are slow, unconvincing and predictable. There are no twists barring the one at end (which is very much predictable). The characters and situations are not written well and a mediocre performance adds to it.
The thrillers thrive on background music and creepy background songs which too are not worth remembering.
Performances
The performances of The Girl on the Train are average at best. Parineeti who though is a very good actress looks very unconvincing as an alcoholic and depressed girl. The script expects her to carry the movie on her shoulders but she disappoints.
Aditi Rao Hayadri as Nusrat John doesn’t get much to do but she fits the part and acts ably. The third lady Kriti Kulhari plays inspector Kaur who neither looks convincing, be it her getup or her act. She has acted way better in her other movies and series.
Rest of the cast is very very average in their poorly written roles.
FFC Take
The Girl on the Train is a suspense thriller but has no elements which can justify the genre. Some very average performances, bad screenplay and slow pace robs the film of whatever it could have achieved.
Netflix has come up with very average content recently and this adds to the list of that forgettable content. Avoidable.
The Review
Review Breakdown
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IMDB Rating
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FFC Rating
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