‘Su From So’ Movie Review: A Deeply Original Social Horror That’s Also Incredibly Fun

Su From So is one of those overtly original films that its characters might have a dual effect on the audience, depending on who they are. It will either make you feel absolutely at home (if you’re from a cosy coastal village that instantly makes you identify with the eccentricities of this Dakshina Kannada village) or overjoy you with its deep peculiarity, as chances are you wouldn’t have seen anyone like this motley bunch before. Either way, director JP Thuminad ensures you’re thoroughly immersed in this world and, in the process, also moved.

Su From So follows the haunting of a young man, Ashoka (JP Thuminad), possibly by the spirit of a stoic old woman (Sulochana) from a nearby village (Someshwara) — the title is a clever ode to this alliteration. Ashoka, and in turn the village, observe eerie occurrences in their otherwise sleepy town, ever since he is charmed by a young woman who has just moved into their village. Is there a link between the two distinctive episodes? The film might largely revolve around this peculiar horror that envelops the village, but at a bare-bones level, Su From So is an intricately laid-out story of the power and warmth that lie in community living. 

And we learn about every small character that makes up this universe — no part too small. An almost blind old man, a fixture in every tea shop, mistakes people, but never once mistakes any detail of local gossip; a ridiculously hilarious drunkard (who goes by bava), who comes running to lead any precarious mission as long as the job involves some arrack; a young man who is more worried about the creases on his shirt rather than the wedding he dressed up for; a woman, who represents that one skinny person in every family, is seen thulping from a plate at any given moment. These are all just tertiary characters who don’t even have major parts. But without these characters, the film might still come off as incomplete, and that’s sort of where director JP Thuminad succeeds.

The Kannada film also captures the pleasurable convenience and inconvenience that often come with small-town living. Only two people in the village have scooters, and both are middle-aged bachelors — one is Ravi Anna, a respected construction guy, and the other is an older man, who is only bothered by people for his scooter. Shaneel Gautham plays Ravi Anna with so much depth and effortlessness, almost instantly making us fall for his bashfulness and his underlying softboy core. When he’s called upon to find a solution to this haunting, he gathers his “boys” (re: balding old men). Chandra Anna (Prakash K Thuminadu), the town rickshaw driver's favourite pastime is to leisurely enjoy his roohafza and fryums, by the morsel and sip. Ravi Anna finds a harmless enemy in a retired banker, who will do anything to get the bigger say in the village, including forcing a gentle young man into an exorcist.

In the middle of all of this overflowing hilarity, Su From So also finds a place to tell us meaningful and mindful stories about the actions of brash men, and their impact on women. JP Thuminad beautifully lays out the differences between the men and women in the village, sometimes laying bare the privilege that the former so shamelessly enjoy. The tone never shifts too much, managing to move us, without getting clammy (the track with Bhanu does a delicate dance between horror and drama, moving us to bits). And it does so with a balance that’s incredibly tough to crack in a genre like social horror.

Su From So delights, amuses, and scares. And occasionally packs in some special surprises too.