Rakkhosh (2019)
Rakkhosh is an Indian psychological horror movie that came out in 2019 in the language of Hindi.
How I watched: Netflix
For the short of it: A man inside a mental institution is convinced an evil spirit is responsible for the disappearance of patients.
The long of it? Kill me now.
Fun fact: This is India's first horror movie to be filmed through the point of view of our main character. Yes, you read that right. Rakkhosh is a movie seen entriely through the first hand perspective.
Taking place in a mental hospital, the patient whom we never get to see the face of is a 20 something Birsa is seen looking for his friend, Kumar John. Kumar John is a much older patient that resides here with the 2,000+ patients but also shares a belief that there is some paranormal entity responsible for the killings inside this institution.
Throughout this movie is Birsa trying to navigate through the WTFs of not only being in this decrepit looking place but the corrupt treatment the staff have towards this overcrowding institution that has people disappearing for seemingly no reason and his pleas for help fall on deaf ears thus, gradually degrades his mental health even further. We see first hand as he descends into madness as a result of it.
Rakkhosh is unsettling and disturbing in a lot of ways. However, this movie goes way deeper than that. You see, our main character Birsa is a schizophrenic and we are shown his complicated family history as if we are the ones experiencing what he did. Very complicated family history at that, as he is shown to have been physically abused by the male members of his family which without a doubt contributed to his declining mental health.
Very interesting concept of a horror movie that's for sure. I'm surprised that I haven't come across more movies like this in general. However, it is such a somber movie considering all the abuse he goes through and all the other events chronicling his descent into madness adds a more disturbing layer to this film and it's reluctantly executed well.
I gotta say, though, I didn't expect to like this movie as much as I do now that I saw the ending. Are you ok with spoilers? Yeah? Okay well do not proceed no further if you don't. The most interesting aspect of this movie was that the implication of paranormal activity, Rakkhosh, being behind the disappearance of the men there is mute. There was never an official answer to that question because remember that this is seen through the eyes of a schizophrenic that had this belief after being fear mongered and enabled by the harmless and equally unstable Kumar John. Whereas the answer likely had a very realistic answer that is interpreted differently from a person with decling health. Maybe the answer was in front of you all along.
With that being said, what is my verdict?
