Netflix Miniseries Ghoul Review
Starring: Radhika Apte, Manav Kaul, S. M. Zaheer
Director: Patrick Graham
Genres: Horror, Action, Thriller
Category: Indian television miniseries
Release: 24 August 2018
Netflix Miniseries Ghoul is a second miniseries that has come out of Netflix factory in the last few months. Netflix has started flexing its muscles for targeting the Indian audience by creating original content that is rooted in Sub-continent culture. It began with Sacred Games, brilliant ten-episode series, starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte.
Patrick Graham envisioned Ghoul, a three-episode miniseries, marketed as horror. It was designed to be a feature film but later converted to a more extended format. Three notable names like Jason Blum, Anurag Kashyap, and Vikramaditya Motwane has produced the series.
The series is a horror drama, based on the Arab mythological monster, Ghoul. Set in an extremist not so distant future India, a notorious criminal is sent to a remote military detention facility where he turns the tables on his inmates and interrogators by uncovering their most embarrassing secrets and using them to start a fight in the facility.
The story is focused on Nida Rahim and her internal struggle. Nida Rahim, played by Radhika Apte, who is a recruit in the army and gets posted in the detention facility. Her character is shown to be conflicted with her inner self regarding patriotism and extremism. Because of the struggle, she is facing and her trust towards the army, she took a bold step in the past that comes back to haunt her during the period of her posting at the facility.
Ghoul walks on the fine line where the names of the country or the political leaders are not mentioned anywhere, but it hints towards some of the actions taken by current administration against the people of a particular religion. The message is passed on subtly without taking any names. Brilliant.
Even though the show is being marketed as horror; I am struggling to put the series in the category. The jump-scares are used too often; the worst part is that they were too predictable. This shows the lack of ability in the director. It is a wasted opportunity where a slow burn horror would have been more effective, but the director has decided to take a ‘gore’ approach. I must admit that I instantly got hooked by the haunted atmosphere of the detention facility.
However, Ghoul falls short from the mark as it lacks the soul and conviction. One of the most fundamental failures of the script is that it fails to establish the behavior traits of the characters. If a character is taking action, in a miniseries, there is ample time to explore the background story. The narrative is focused on Ghoul and its antics with inmates, without exploring the mythology. Few minutes of exposition would have made this series satisfactory.
The cast is solid; there is no lack of talent here. Radhika Apte has become the poster girl for Netflix in India. She has done enough for her part, but she is not up to the level of the performance she delivered in ‘Lust Stories’ or ‘Sacred Games’. Manav Kaul as Colonel Sunil Dacunha does not fill out of the place. The performance from other supporting cast is alright, no complaints here.
For a horror drama that is centered around a monster, the scare is underwhelming. The show would have been better with less monster and more character graph. It is not a bad show, but in the end, it ends on a predictable note, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.
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