Carbon

Venu's 2018 Malayalam film follows Siby, always chasing easy money. When one of his schemes goes wrong he accepts a job at an old house deep in the forest, and there he takes up the trail of a rumoured treasure. The film uses the adventure form without carrying it to a conclusion. The further into the forest it goes, the more the sense of direction is lost; the narrative blurs the line between the real and the imagined and leaves the existence of the treasure uncertain. Fahadh Faasil leads. Venu is known as a cinematographer and the forest photography stands out here; the sound design is what carries the tension. The pace is low and the narrative deliberately loose. Who it's for: those who like the experimental strain of Malayalam cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a classical treasure hunt; the film does not meet the genre's expectation.