‘Dies Irae’ movie review: Rahul Sadasivan delivers one of the finest horror films in Malayalam

Horror really hits home when it is evoked in the mundane. Only when one encounters it in the unlikeliest of forms would the chill seep slowly, imperceptibly down our spine. In Dies Irae, Rahul Sadasivan mines horror out of even a gentle breeze caressing a person’s hair, so much so that after the movie, the feeling of wind in the hair somewhat ceases to be exhilarating as it used to be. There is more...fear, passed on to us through something as commonplace as a ray of light or the click sound of a hair clip.

Some of the fear-evoking tropes, including a couple of jump scares, that the filmmaker employs are familiar in the horror genre, but the way he uses them and the atmospherics he conjures up inject new fears. Rohan (Pranav Mohanlal), the scion of an uber-rich family, who feels something is not right within his massive home, is the victim of all those fears. To free himself from the ordeal, he digs all the way to the root of it all.

Unlike Sadasivan’s Bhoothakalam, which operated more in the zone of unseen horrors and even left open the possibility of a rational explanation, Dies Irae is more in-your-face. The horror elements here are tangible and even visible. Yet, that does not in any way detract from the film’s intended effect. Rather, through intelligent staging and the seamless blend of the sound, visual, editing, and music departments, it delivers some highly satisfying theatrical moments.

One of the memorable sequences arrives shortly before the interval, with a slow buildup of tension, followed by a shift in pace, conveyed through a play of shadows while placing the viewer firmly in the shoes of the terrified protagonist. In such moments, one can sense the presence of a filmmaker, so at home in the horror genre, gleefully cranking up the scare-o-meter. Although not as minimalistic as his work in Bhoothakalam or Bramayugam, cinematographer Shehnad Jalal, Sadasivan’s trusted lieutenant, uses light and the lack of it in myriad ways to invoke fear.

While the initial parts might give the feeling of a run-of-the-mill horror story, Dies Irae soon shifts gears towards a mystery thriller zone. More fireworks are in store in the mystery-unravelling final act, where the screenplay (also by Sadasivan) finds space for an unlikely emotional moment, which fits well. It also leaves the viewer with a deeper subtext to think on when the fears subside. The Latin poem in the title, signifying the Last Judgment, has a feeble connection to the narrative, but all that becomes immaterial considering what the film achieves.

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Along with Pranav Mohanlal, the small cast of Gibin Gopinath, Arun Ajikumar, and Jaya Kurup deliver effective performances that convey horror in full measure. Rahul Sadasivan delivers a nightmare of a movie, the kind every horror filmmaker aspires to. Dies Irae would certainly rank among the finest horror films the Malayalam industry has ever produced.