The Verdict Movie Review: When manipulation meets its match
: A woman acquitted of murder orchestrates an elaborate trap to expose her husband's deadly schemes, using his own deceptions against him.The best chess matches happen when both players think they're winning, and The Verdict serves up exactly that kind of strategic showdown wrapped in courtroom proceedings. Director Krishna Shankar's thriller, set entirely in the US and half in English, starts as a conventional murder trial before revealing itself as something more cunning – a battle of wits where the real game begins after the gavel falls.The film opens with Namrutha aka Nami (Sruthi Hariharan) facing trial for the murder of wealthy Miss Eliza Sherman (Suhasini Maniratnam) in an American courthouse. These early courtroom scenes, following US procedural conventions with jury deliberations and cross-examinations, feel distinctly theatrical. The dialogue sounds more like position statements than actual conversation, coming across as stiff portraits rather than living drama. Maya Kannappa (Varalaxmi Sarathkumar), Nami's formidable attorney, works through these proceedings with visible competence, though even her presence can't entirely mask the procedural dryness that makes you check your watch.Thankfully, the real movie emerges post-acquittal. Nami reveals herself as more than just a defendant – she's a strategist who suspects her nurse husband Varun (Prakash Mohandas) orchestrated Eliza's death for inheritance money. Through flashbacks, we see Eliza's genuine bond with Nami, making her murder more personal and calculated. Suhasini Maniratnam brings gravitas to these glimpses, creating a fully-realized character despite limited screen time. Even Raphael, Eliza's long-time caretaker, becomes a pawn in this game, manipulated by Varun to provide false testimony that nearly seals Nami's fate.What transforms the film is the alliance between three women against one manipulative man. When Pragya, Varun's pregnant colleague, realizes his true nature after he casually suggests abortion as a first response to her news, she becomes the third player in this game. The dynamics shift as Nami, Maya, and Pragya orchestrate an elaborate trap using the early COVID pandemic as cover. It's here that the initially plastic characterizations start to make sense – these people were always performing for each other, hiding their true intentions behind carefully constructed facades.The film's strength lies in how it treats manipulation as a double-edged sword. Varun believes he's the puppet master, but the women around him have been pulling different strings all along. Using his arrogance against him, they create a scenario where his need to boast becomes his undoing. The recording scene where Varun confesses his crimes to Maya, believing her to be another conquest, is particularly well-executed – a predator caught by his own vanity.Varalaxmi Sarathkumar commands every scene as Maya, bringing both legal authority and street-smart cunning to her role. She's the film's anchor, making even the stiff courtroom sequences watchable through sheer presence. Sruthi Hariharan impressively navigates Nami's transformation from victim to victor, while Prakash Mohandas delivers a compelling performance that truly comes alive in the second half. The supporting cast are adequate.Krishna Shankar shows promise in handling the thriller elements, particularly in the second half where psychological warfare replaces legal procedures. The screenplay excels at revealing character through action rather than exposition – watch how each person reacts when cornered, and you'll understand who they really are. The film cleverly positions its reveals to maximize impact, letting us discover alongside the characters that trust is the most dangerous game of all. After all, Varun himself is the real infection that needs eliminating.The Verdict works best when it abandons the courtroom for the messier arena of human duplicity, where justice wears a different face entirely. It's a reminder that sometimes the best verdict isn't delivered by a jury but orchestrated by those who refuse to remain victims.Abhinav Subramanian
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