By the nature of social norms, each country includes a specific view in their art. When it comes to movies, this is very noticeable within the subgenre of action. Whereas American films almost always feature a stalwart protagonist who survives the day no matter what (Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995); Edge of Tomorrow (2014)), in Hong Kong releases, the protagonists could be criminals (The Long Arm of the Law Saga) or be a good guy (Fist of Fury (1972)) and still not walk out due to a belief in the rule of law. The unfortunate thing is this means that so many American films become predictable; the audience goes on a thrill ride like a well-maintained rollercoaster that offers a typical setup, some possible cool moments in the middle, and then an as-expected ending. If you’re looking to branch out and test what an action film can be, explore co-writer/director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s (Hurdang) latest project, the action crime thriller Kill (किल), which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival 2023, hit a few other festivals, and now comes to U.S. theaters on July 4th, 2024. While the premise of Kill is simple and straight-forward, the implementation of the narrative and the action that takes place throughout rely more on human emotion and desire than just who’s strongest, turning the “as-expected” into something soul-churning. It’s an experience that may leave you wondering why you seek out these types of films at all.
Tanya Maniktala as Tulika in KILL. Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Hoping to prevent his girlfriend, Tulika (Tanya Maniktala), from becoming engaged to another, Indian army commando Amrit (Lakshya Lalwani, a.k.a. Lakshya), boards the same train as she, her father, Baldev Singh Thakur (Harsh Chhaya), and her younger sister, Aahna (Adrija Sinha), as they travel to New Delhi. With love being their guiding force, they presume her father to be their greatest obstacle until it’s revealed that bandits are aboard the same train and see to rob the passengers of all they can. But when the bandit leader’s son, Fani (Raghav Juyal), goes too far, it’s up to Amrit and his partner, Viresh (Abhishek Chauhan), to stop them. With the odds against them, it’s kill or be killed, and everyone just wants to live.
L-R: Tanya Maniktala as Tulika and Lakshya as Amrit in KILL. Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
Written by Bhat and Ayesha Syed (The Gone Game) from a story by Bhat, Kill delivers on its title as it’s Amrit and Viresh against 40 bandits whose version of justice and righteousness is different than those riding on the train. Having introduced both soldiers after coming off a 10-day military operation (unclear if training or not), Bhat and Syed quickly establish their bonafides and their close relationship so that when things kick off, we are already primed for chaos. But we’re not given chaos; rather, the two take their time engaging and, when they do, they seek to use non-lethal force, preferring to subdue the bandits rather than remove them from this plane of existence. In contrast to the fodder that the bandits become, our introduction to them is that they are methodical in their planning, but unnecessarily violent in the implementation of the plan, hurting passengers with zeal when met with any resistance. This juxtaposition immediately establishes the starting points for the soldiers and the bandits, making the escalation to come all the more vicious, because where does someone go when they are already injuring, maiming, and killing from the start versus the possibilities of individuals with the training to be cautious unless all other options are exhausted?
Raghav Juyal as Fani in KILL. Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
In this vein, not only is the mayhem scripted by Bhat and Syed clever and disquieting, the design of the stunts by Parvez Shaikh (Mission Raniganj) perpetually opts for maximum devastation. The use of fighting often does the work of the dialogue (as it should in any good action-centric film), communicating mindset, desire, intention, and more. There’s a big difference between Fani’s casual slicing and dicing, conveying the sense of someone whose internal perspective is one of pleasure-seeking and being above anyone on the train; whereas Amrit is measured, calculating, and intentional, thereby raising the intensity of each encounter when the fighting style shifts from capture to kill. The performance by Lakshya in his second feature film (having made the jump from prior tv projects like MTV India’s MTV Warrior High (2015 – present) and Adhuri Kahaani Hamari (2015-2016)) is outstanding. The actor gives Amrit charm and insecurity in equal measure, making sure to focus on the humanity of the character as the leading characteristic with the army training being secondary to who Amrit is; a decision both performatively and technically, which makes Amrit’s journey through the film and Lakshya’s performance within it psychologically devastating to behold. Kill is as it proclaims in the title and the train to New Delhi flows with blood, victims made of all who ride upon the rails. Seeing Amrit shift from fellow passenger to “monster,” as Fani refers to him in the trailers, is an earned transition that occurs right in front of the audience. The impressive thing being that just when we think we have the measure of either Amrit or Kill, Bhat finds a new gear.
This is where Kill ends up being a challenge to the audience. It’s not the viciousness with which Amrit dispatches some of the bandits that does this, though it’s enough to give anyone with any sense (in-world or not) pause. It’s not fully explored here, but it’s hinted at that Fani (operating as the boots-on-the-ground leader for his father) and the bandits are in the position they are as a result of class warfare. Now, maybe they see themselves as the victims and the passengers as an opportunity to take advantage of others in order to raise their status, but all of that talk loses its weight when the bandits so willingly violate others for their own sake. Of course, Juyal’s performance as Fani is just dripping with disdain for anyone other than he (even the bodies of his relatives only give him so much hesitation), so we, the audience, don’t mind when Amrit dispatches, with extreme prejudice, any of the bandits. But there does come a moment when Bhat and Syed ask us if all the violence that Amrit both endures and causes is worth it. At least in American cinema, there’s an element of delight that comes from watching bad people get a beatdown. Even Finnish action thriller Sisu (2022), also released by Lionsgate (though Kill shares distribution with Roadside Attractions), revels in the brutal dismemberment and death of Nazis (which is as it should be, frankly). But from the moment that the title card appears, Bhat and Syed dispense with the expected and immediately find a new gear, which should cause anyone who watches the film to ask themselves whether or not Fani is right about Amrit and what that says about us for rooting for him. Personally, I remain on Amrit’s side, as would most in the audience given the reasons for Amrit’s violence; however, Bhat and Syed give just enough space between emotion and reason for the audience to struggle with what we’ve witnessed, what we’ve endured alongside Amrit, and whether we will maintain the same attitudes after.
Lakshya as Amrit in KILL. Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
As a single-location thriller, Kill is impressive, even if the orientation of things is harder to follow. Much of the film takes place in four of the train cars with characters moving forward and backward within that space. Rafey Mehmood’s (Kadakh) cinematography ensures that audiences have a full understanding of the space that the on-screen characters are in, making the stuntwork easy to follow, resulting in more evocative action sequences as we can track who is where and when. We don’t always need to know which direction we’re moving or from where we are coming as it is clear that threats are everywhere. Aiding in that notion, composer Ketan Sodha (Talvar) and sound designer Subash Sahoo (Shaitaan) offer a masterclass in the importance of sound. Rather than have the score run throughout, Sodha’s music often disappears completely, making the only sound we hear the disquieting squelches of violence, whether it be a blade piercing flesh, a fist upon a body, or someone impacting a natural element of the train. That Sodha’s scoring often includes a cocking noise amid fights with little gunplay should be strange or funny, until one realizes that it’s intended to convey Amrit’s own “loading” and how it’s he who’s the weapon.
Lakshya as Amrit in KILL. Photo courtesy of Roadside Attractions.
There’re a lot of things within Kill that are familiar — the highly-trained operative in the wrong place at the right time, the love interest in danger, villains with zero accountability by their own interests, and bloody mayhem — all of which should feel overdone, overwrought, or otherwise all-to-familiar to be interesting. But through a willingness to craft a script that upends convention, that asks its audience as to whether the hero is equal to the villain, Kill transforms into the kind of film you immediately want to share with others if only to have more people to discuss it with. There’s a reason people have been talking about it across TIFF 2023 and through Tribeca 2024, and it’s not just because it delivers on everything you expect or could want out of a single-location action thriller. It’s because it delivers even more.
In theaters July 4th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Lionsgate Kill webpage.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, In Theaters, Recommendation, Reviews
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