A film review by Jamie Richardson for Just Celebrity Magazine

The opening scene of a decayed animal carcase; the religious incantations being murmured for it to receive God’s grace initially made me think of satanic rituals in the east; however, the panning out of the camera shows a lush and dense waterlogged jungle and the mode of transport being a rowing boat made me realise that this is most probably Bangladesh, the religious verses being read by the little girl Arya ( Nairah Onora Saif) were simply a misunderstanding of a young girl’s innocence and naivety. 

The fear in the eyes of big sister Apu (Sunerah Binte Kamal) looking skyward as the sun sets and telling her little sister Arya to hurry up belied a fear of an apocalyptic onslaught. As the sisters approach the village a warning for everyone to seek shelter under their Moshari’s bellows from a speakerphone. 

A further twist of the story speaks more of the era it is set in, it is a time where the luxury obsessed first world countries no longer control the lives of the second world, rather the tables have turned, and it is these very poor people who for centuries have endured hardship are best adapted to battle the ecological and water issues that have tormented Bangladesh. 

The genius of director Nuhash Humayun to evolve the blood-sucking and irritating mosquito into a creature of the night that preys on the blood of humans who when bitten transform into this dark, blackened mysterious humanoid, snugly fits with subcontinent culture and mythology.

There is one scene which for me epitomises the biases, attitudes and crude profanity of middle Asia and that is when Apu searching for her little sister speaks to this invisible, visible creature and says, “You want blood, wait for my period.” Absolutely wonderful!!

The film is exemplified very well by the lighting, which is dimly lit, the shadow forming further adds to the overall creepiness. Scenes which show the interaction of human with the scary dark creature are an excellent break from the normal horror genre where such events happen with a lightning like flash and thunderously loud noise, that quite literally make the viewer jump!

Nuhash Humayun again displays his excellent understanding of Bangladeshi mythology with the culminating scene where the sister transformed into the hellish blood sucking creature reaches out to play with Arya’s hair; the underlying message that true love overcomes every hurdle. A tear dropping finale.

I would welcome the film being expanded into a feature-length as I feel that it would widen the alternative view of the genre.