24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Indian Express
School Movie Review: Too many subjects in a forgettable horror flick
Nambirajan (Bagavathi Perumal), the school's principal, is at the centre of a controversy as strange ghosts begin killing students who read his book, Mindset to Success. The film invests itself in this for a while, and just when it starts to get interesting with a few revelations, a few students break into a random dance number for their cultural programme, and the camera takes a voyeuristic angle even before the music begins. Later, Chaams as Manmadhan indulges in a few gags. Then, police officer Kaleeshwaran's (KS Ravikumar) son gets into trouble after the aavis enter into a few school teachers. It gets exhausting, and everything from there becomes absurdly campy. For a film as erratic as School, you are not sure whether the makers want you to take its subjects seriously, or just regurgitate all of them only to forget it until a new academic year (read: nightmare) begins.
Yogi Babu as Kanagavel and Bhumika as Anbarasi only arrive at the halfway point, which by itself feels like an eternity. However, the building blocks of School's story finally reveal itself but it soon crumbles under the weight of its own inanity and overt messaging. Mastaan (Nizhalgal Ravi) is characterised as a villain who sends ghosts to people's doorsteps like food delivery apps. He even points to a few aavis in a room—a word that's repeated a gazillion times—like they are exhibit A, B and C. His appearance, styled to reflect a particular religion, veers dangerously close to stereotyping members of that community.
I wish that were all.
