C U Soon, frisky in pace but grounded in unwavering
technique, is an affirmation of cinema's capacity
to be creative and hopeful no matter how grave
and protracted a crisis is.
In a pandemic-hit world where a large number
of people are cocooned indoors and interact
with each other more through screens than
in the real world, it was about time that
movies also reflected that reality.
Jimmy and Anu, both based in the Middle East,
meet on a dating app. Soon their conversations
shift to video calls and after an incident,
they start living together.
But things go out of control for Jimmy when
Anu goes missing and he’s taken to the police
station, forcing his cousin and cyber security
expert Kevin Thomas to discover some shocking
truths about Anu through her data trail.
It is something a few others have tried before,
like in the 2014 horror film Unfriended or
the 2018 film Searching, both of which told
their story through screens. Yet, Mahesh Narayanan
who has written, directed and edited this
film has left in it a mark of his own.
Beyond the surface of the constant shifting
between the myriad screens, there is a base
story, which if told in a conventional manner,
might not have matched the excitement quotient
that this plot manages to produce, for there
is a tinge of familiarity to Anu’s plight.
But at the same time, it is this story, and
the performances of the three actors, that
gives the film its emotional core, without
which it could have remained a mere showcasing
of technical mastery.
Performing is not easy, when it is just the
actors’ faces in close up on the screen,
most of the time. The taut screenplay hardly
ever lets up, from the frenetic pace that
it sets right at the beginning, flitting from
one screen to the next, from one corner of
the globe to the other.
The makers have achieved this with characters
who remain indoors and meet each other mostly
online.
Mahesh’s mastery at storytelling is evident
from how he keeps the audience guessing throughout
the film, which is an intensive experiment
tackling an intense subject. The filmmaker,
who is also credited as the virtual choreographer,
doesn’t get too caught up with using all
aspects of technology that he could have and
instead keeps it minimal while focusing on
letting the story unfold screen by screen.
Despite being a screen-based film that is
shot mostly indoors, the actors and the way
the scenes are filmed add to the tension-filled
atmosphere that keep the viewer’s attention
from wavering. The central narrative digresses
only when Mahesh plugs small details about
his characters, such as Jimmy already being
in trouble with the law, the reasons for Kevin
being abrasive or Anu’s look of disbelief
and shock in certain scenes. The denouement
especially works for all these reasons as
each character goes through a full circle
of emotions.
In addition to its final reveal and an emotionally
satisfying end, Mahesh also gives a peek into
the dynamics of new-age relationships and
how easy and normal it is become to track
somebody’s life through their data trail.
For instance, after Jimmy proposes to Anu
over a video call with his mother, the latter
asks Kevin to learn more about her through
her online history.
Owing to the unusual tools it presses into
the structuring of the narrative, C U Soon
is fascinatingly layered. This jigsaw puzzle
constructed around unanswered questions about
the girl does more than just look to fit jumbled-up
and scattered pieces into a genre template
and string together an engaging story.
It also explores dimensions of 'seeing' and
'knowing' alongside the task of 'reading'
and 'deciphering' meaning between the lines
that the characters speak and type. C U Soon keeps
a firm grip on what it allows us to see and
hear. In the best traditions of an absorbing
head-scratcher that relies more on the psychological
than on the merely physical, it then leads
us into what seems obvious but isn't.
C U Soon is a great example of making innovative
content, utilising technology and fine storytelling,
at a time when budgetary constraints and physical
restrictions are forcing filmmakers to think
out-of-the-box. For Mollywood’s first film
that was made especially for an OTT release
and experience, the film sets the bar high,
and makes it a must watch.
