Decay competed at the Stockholm City Film Festival for Best Experimental Film.
Decay is an experimental and suspense film directed, produced, and written by Aditya Chowdhury.
Synopsis!
After coming home to a misplaced book on her reading chair, Vartika, a schoolteacher, becomes afraid of a stalker trying to gain entry into her and her husband’s home. Her paranoia starts to spiral out of control after receiving anonymous messages about her house being recorded on video and her being followed. But the reason for these occurrences and her paranoia might be rooted in her past and a recent event that brought it all back, and Vartika would have to make a choice to escape it before the occurrences become fatal.
Review.
Vartika, the main character in the movie, is constantly fighting the guilt she faces. The movie starts by showing her fear of knowing that the school has decided to rehire Mr. Mehta once again.
Verika left her best friend Poonam alone when she needed her. Poonam was harassed and molested by a colleague, Mr. Mehta, from the same school. Vartika saw Mr. Mehta harassing and molesting her friend Poonam.
Poonam raised her voice against Mehta, and the school management formed a committee to investigate. Vertika was the only witness to that incident, but she didn’t show up, and Poonam couldn’t prove her allegations against Mehta, even though Mehta was suspended from his job.
Vertika kept her guilt, and that sad memory followed her for three years. She turned into a fearful person.
Once she had a heated discussion with her husband, he spoke from a man’s point of view and tried to explain to Vertika that Poonam might judge Mr. Mehta wrong, and she might not get harassed and just blame Mehta. He gave the example from his workplace, where some men act in the same way but women around there never make any complaints. That scene was nicely crafted, showing the male dominance in Indian society.
Later, Vertika went to meet Poonam after 3 years. Poonam was shocked and angry to see Vertika at her new workplace. Vertika apologized to her, but Poonam didn’t accept her apology and said, “You should have done this three years ago.”
Poonam then decided to speak to the school principal, Dr. Dutta, to reopen the case, and she wanted to be a witness against Mr. Mehta.
Technically, it was a good movie. Aditya Chowdhury, as a director, producer, and writer, elegantly proved his creative skills. Vertika is surely the star of the show, while Poonam, with her single appearance, did great, and Dr. Dutta and Akash also performed well.
