#DiésIraé Review

#DiésIraé

2025- Malayalam 

Starring : Pranav Mohanlal , Gibin Gopinath , Sushmitha Bhatt and Arjun Ajikumar

Directed by Rahul Sadasivan

Plot : Rohan, a successful architect, receives news that his old classmate Kani has died by suicide. He and his friend attend her funeral, but soon after, Rohan starts sensing a strange presence in his house. He realizes that it might be Kani’s spirit haunting him. As he begins to uncover the truth, Rohan discovers that things are not what they seem. The rest of the story follows his journey to find out the real reason behind the haunting and solve the mystery.

Performance wise , Pranav Mohanlal has done a fantastic job. His role as Rohan has a very limited meter and Pranav has caught that meter has performed really well. The Second Hero of the film on screen is Gibin Gopinath as Madhu . His role is written in a very interesting manner and his performance especially in the dinner scene is absolutely fantastic. Sushmita Bhatt as Kani appears in Photos and Videos alone without much to perform. Arjun Ajikumar gets a solid yet short role and has performed really well. An Old Lady has acted as Phillips mother (Sorry didn't know her name ) and her performance especially towards the climax was really good.

Technically the film is absolutely fantastic. Thanks to Christo Xavier's sharp bgms and Shehnad Jalal's wonderful cinematography. Each and every frame is absolutely stunning on screen. The film's Sound Design requires special appreciation as each and every Scenes's sound design is absolutely terrifying and stunning. That is what elevates the film to its maximum potential.

The Film opens with Madhu's Introduction and the film moves from his POV till a point. Then we are introduced to Rohan and his affluent lifestyle. Then the film quickly shifts into the main plot without wasting any time. There are few jump scares in the First Half that actually are kept for shock value alone and doesn't actually accompanying the plot. Yet they are enjoyable. The Film's Interval Point is where a crucial twist is revealed that's what makes the film interesting and changes the trajectory of the plot.

The Second Half opens with Rohan investigating regarding the Spirit and the sequences are pretty standard but from a visual standpoint it looks good. The Entire Second half goes on the same meter, the sequences are pretty standard and cliched but the visual treatment looks refreshing and entertaining. The Climax twist is a hit or miss again , based on whether that twist satisfies you or not. The Film doesn't spoonfeed anything and the film ends on a Cliffhanger with a lot of unanswered questions. The film's biggest positive is its Tight Runtime of 114 mins (1hr 54mins) where each scene leads to the next and there is no unwanted or lagging scene.

Talking about the Negatives, the Film's core plot is very cliched and simple. The plot also resembles (especially in the First half) Mysskin's Pisassu about a Man getting haunted by a Girl's spirit. The film hangs on a very thin thread line that heavily depends upon other aspects like Cinematography & Sound Design to elevate it. It does work almost everytime but if the script was even more tighter on par with Bramayugam or Bhoothakalam , it would've been great.

Coming to Writer Director Rahul Sadasivan, he once again has taken a very simple plot and decided to provide a Horror Theatrical Experience and actually has pulled it off. Yes the films core feels very cliched yet the Theatrical Experience elevates and the makes the film a entertaining watch especially for Horror fans.

Overall : Diés Iraé is a well-made horror thriller with impressive technical quality, though the writing isn’t very strong. It’s best enjoyed in a theatre with a good sound system for the full experience. 

Rating : 2.75-3/5