‘Footage’ movie review: Manju Warrier, Saiju Sreedharan’s found footage film lacks the writing to complement its experimentation

The Malayalam film ‘Footage’ leans heavily on the experimental element to take forward the narrative, which is not helped much by the sparse screenplay and thin material

Barring some glorious exceptions, an utter pointlessness marks a good number of the zillion vlogs that get uploaded online every day. Often documented for the viewing pleasure of the public are the mundane details from the daily lives of the vloggers. But, some of them do spring surprises for those patient enough to sit through the uneventful visuals.

In his debut directorial, film editor Saiju Sreedharan uses the found footage of a vlogger couple (Vishak Nair and Gayathri Ashok) to tell a story which if told in the conventional form might not have much of a novelty. This being the format, the film has its share of inconsequential sequences from their daily lives, but it at the same time gives one the feel of being a part of the risky adventures they embark on.

Right from the beginning, the film gives us a clue about their habit of prying on the lives of others. The couple also compulsively documents their intimate moments, quite a few of which does not have much to do with the narrative. While the first half of the film is made up of visuals from the man’s camera, the latter half takes us through the same scenarios using visuals from the woman’s camera, filling in the many gaps in her partner’s visuals. The duo, with their cameras running, follows a mysterious woman (Manju Warrier) living in their apartment complex, inevitably landing in trouble.

Saiju, who has edited some of the best known films of the past decade including Maheshinte Prathikaaram, Kumbalangi Nights and Virus, leans heavily on the experimental element to take forward the narrative, which is not helped much by the sparse screenplay and thin material. With the central characters never letting go of the camera, even when they are in danger, there are a lot of visuals which convey the immediacy of the danger they are facing.

There are, of course, several visuals with the shaky cameras pointed at running feet, sequences in weirdly tilted angles and immersive experiences inside dark forests in wind and rain. Some of the standout sequences include a close encounter with wild elephants and those inside a rusty old boat in the middle of the forest. The intricate sound design adds to the effect of these scenes; the songs from post-rock band Aswekeepsearching makes some pointless scenes worthwhile.

Manju Warrier, who is introduced as a mysterious woman, remains so even in the end, because her character is quite under-written. She does not have a line of dialogue in the film, but we are not even sure whether she is mute or whether she chooses to communicate with handwritten notes. The revenge drama at the centre is plainly run-of-the mill, and would not have stood on its own.

With some better writing to complement its experimentation, Footage, one of the first feature films in the found footage genre in Malayalam, might have left a lasting impression.