Bougainvillea movie review: Amal Neerad’s mystery thriller has moments of brilliance, but is let down by predictability

2.5/5

Bougainvillea plot: Reethu (Jyothirmayi) suffers from retrograde amnesia, which left her with scattered memories, after meeting with a fateful accident eight years ago. Her devoted husband, Dr. Royce Thomas (Kunchacko Boban) takes excellent care of her, with the help of maid Rema (Srindaa). However, the couple’s seemingly peaceful life takes a different turn after ACP David Koshy IPS (Fahadh Faasil), who handles the missing case of a VIP’s daughter, enters their lives.

Bougainvillea Review

Director and co-writer Amal Neerad, and writer Lajo Jose have created a gripping mystery thriller, which is loosely based on the latter’s best-selling novel Ruthinte Lokam, with Bougainvillea. The movie starts on a high note, building up the characters and the plot slowly yet steadily. The slow-burn thriller gets even more exciting as soon as it gets into investigative thriller mode. But, the predictability factor and incompetency (just like the cops in the film), hit the narrative.

Even though Bougainvillea unfolds in an effective manner throughout its initial runtime, the narrative takes its mind games with the audiences a little too seriously (the subplot involving Reethu and Royce’s children served just no purpose, apart from creating a basic shock). Right from the cops entering the narrative, it becomes a bit too easy to guess who the real culprit is. The extremely cliched origin story of the villain, and the final act involving the women (which is also unintentionally funny), are just unsatisfying.

When it comes to the performances, Jyothirmayi delivers one of the finest performances of her acting career as the deeply disturbed Reethu, who tries hard to solve her own memory puzzle. Kunchacko Boban is brilliant as Dr. Royce Thomas and has portrayed the transitions of his character to near perfection. Fahadh Faasil, however, is criminally wasted in the role of an incompetent police officer, who does absolutely no justice to his immense potential.

Srinda is effective as maid Rema, while Sharaf U Dheen appears as her husband, driver Biju. Veena Nandakumar comes across as a miscast in the role of criminologist Meera Yasodhara, and the actress’s dialogue delivery needs improvement. The rest of the star cast, including Jinu Joseph, Nisthar Sait, Vijilesh Karayad, Amala Rose Kurian, Athira Patel, and others are fine in their respective roles.

Anend C Chandran’s stunning cinematography makes Bougainvillea a completely stunning visual experience. Sushin Shyam’s background score elevates the narrative big time, while the songs are also good. Vivek Harshan’s editing is impactful in parts. The production design team deserves a special mention for creating the perfectly eerie backdrop for the storytelling.

Verdict

Bougainvillea is a decent mystery thriller that shines with the exceptional performances by Jyothirmayi and Kunchacko Boban. The Amal Neerad directorial has moments of brilliance but ends up as an unsatisfying watch. Do give it a try, if you have a love for thrillers.