Merry Christmas Movie Review: Vijay Sethupathi, Katrina's suspense thriller will keep you on the edge ONLY in second half

Merry Christmas Movie Review: After days of promotion from one city to another, Vijay Sethupathi and Katrina Kaif-starrer suspense thriller Merry Christmas movie is finally released in cinemas. The film’s storyline showcases each character with such purity that it will surely bind you to the end. However, I felt that the film was a little slow in the first half as the story was building up. If you love to watch suspense thrillers and looking to watch Merry Christmas in cinemas this weekend, then you must definitely read this review till the end to get a brief idea about the movie.

Merry Christmas Movie Story

The film begins the same as its trailer where the screen is divided into two parts and two people are using a mixer grinder. Following this, the movie kickstarts with Vijay Sethupathi returning to his home after 7 years where he meets his neighbour, played by Tinnu Anand. It was Christmas Eve and Vijay decides to go out to celebrate the festival and reaches a restaurant where he finds Katrina sitting with her daughter alone. He falls in love with her and follows her wherever she goes. After some time, the two strangers interact with each other and ultimately celebrate Christmas Eve at her home. They dance, drink, and share their past with each other. Things remain perfect between them until they became a part of a crime scene at Katrina's home. 

Acting

When it comes to act, both the lead stars, Katrina Kaif and Vijay Sethupathi, have justified their characters. However, in the first half of the film, you will find it difficult to understand their Hindi accent clearly and likely to miss some of the words. But that won't last long and one will get used to their accents and will find them perfect in their characters. In the film, Vijay is shown an introvert and he portrays the character nicely. On the other hand, Katrina too charms with her bubbly cute character, who is a mother and has a disturbed personal life. 

Apart from the lead actors, supporting casts including Tinnu Anand, Sanjay Kapoor and Vinay Pathak have nailed their short roles in the film. 

Merry Christmas Movie Direction

Merry Christmas is helmed by Sriram Raghavan, who tried his level best to depict the perfect crime story, which took place on Christmas Eve, but there are several sections in the film where you might feel are stretched too much. Not only this, in the first half, the direction of Sriram felt a little amateurish and one might even get bored in the first 20-30 minutes. 

The second half surely captivates attention with a twist in the storyline almost every 10 minutes.

Also See: Before Merry Christmas, Sriram Raghavan's films based on twisted plots

Verdict

As mentioned above, Merry Christmas is slow in the first half and it takes time for the storyline to get aligned with the audience's attention. Things pick up just 2 minutes before the interval and the second half is good to go. If you are a murder mystery fan, then you might enjoy the slow build in the first half. However, when it comes to wholesome entertainment, one will surely find it a bit lengthy.

However, after the show ends, one will be satisfied with the climax full of twists and turns. Talking about the rating of the film and considering each factor, I will give Merry Christmas 3 out of five stars.