It has been such an emotionally draining week. The pathos that began on Sunday continues to linger in everyone’s hearts. Yet, as they say life goes on and so here we are on another Friday with another early bird review. Just wondering if this is the new normal with new films releasing every Friday on an OTT platform. Well, only time will tell and it is indeed for the moment. And so, I watched Penguin, the new Mystery thriller on Amazon Prime. Is it worth your time…lets find out.

Penguin(a metaphor for the species of birds that would go to any extent to protect their children) is the story of Rhythm that ventures on a spine thrilling journey to unravel a mystery behind the disappearance of her first child. The story is pretty good and does invoke that interest in it(partly falls in the serial killer genre). The screenplay does take some time to warm up. So after the explosive opening scene, there are more than one calmer moments which act as a build up. And with 30 minutes into the thriller, the ‘thrill’ creeps in with an edge of the seat sequence. The emotional angle could have been handled much better but the serial killer element with a couple of shocking twists in the second hour more than make up for it. The climax is a bit on the convenient side but the twist in the preclimax makes you want to ignore the patchiness. The dialogues are alright. I had a problem with the BGM as it just did not go well with the drama that was unfolding. At times, it annoyed me to a point where instead of a thrilling score, a docile score was being presented. Director Eashvar Karthic has done a great job with the thrill element and some of the sequences are really edge of the seat stuff!

Linga as Raghu and Madhampatty Rangaraj as Goutham both have their moments particularly the former. Mathi as Doctor David is outstanding. Nithya Kriupa as Bhavana is decent. Advaith as Ajay is brilliant and it is his character that frequently gives you chills. Keerthy Suresh as Rhythm is once again outstanding(you should watch Mahanati to witness what a brilliant actor she is). She literally holds the proceedings together in a towering performance!

Penguin on the whole provides some great thrills but could have been better in the emotional part of it. The big reveal is good but the reason is something you may have witnessed in a few other movies. Yet, this is an ideal weekend watch for a few thrills. Available on Amazon Prime!