Kingston Review

G V Prakash Kumar is an Indian music composer, playback singer, actor and film producer - not to mention the nephew of A R Rahman. His career has been a multitasking marathon - composing music for songs and background scores, singing for his own tunes and those of others, and even dabbling in film production. But with Kingston, he's taken it up a notch or ten. He's the lead actor, the lead singer, the music director and the co-producer, essentially turning the film into a one-man extravaganza. And if that wasn't enough, Kingston is being hailed as India's first full-length seafaring adventure horror thriller (not Bollywood, not Tollywood - just pure high-seas horror). Kumar, though, has bitten off more than he can chew.

Thoovattur, a coastal fishing village in Tamil Nadu, is cursed. Whoever ventures into the sea for fishing meets a gruesome fate at the hands of paranormal forces. As a result, the villagers have long abandoned fishing and taken up other means of livelihood.

Among them is Kingston, also known as King (G V Prakash Kumar), a greedy, daring and free-spirited young man who defies the curse - not to fish, but to smuggle sea cucumbers for Thomas (Sabumon Abdusamad). During one such smuggling run, a young recruit is killed by the coast guard, and King makes a shocking discovery - he hasn't been smuggling sea cucumbers but drugs hidden inside them.

Disgusted, and persuaded by his girlfriend Rose (Divyabharathi), he quits smuggling. But Thomas isn't one to let things slide, and kidnaps King's girlfriend. Now King must return to the sea to save Rose. And all the events have also led to a change of heart in him, and he now wants to also unravel the truth behind the so-called curse, so that the villagers can reclaim their ancestral way of life.

As said earlier, Kingston promised to be India's first full-length seafaring adventure horror thriller, and in fact is - but not a good one. Much like its haunted waters, the storytelling is murky, and the muddled screenplay struggles to navigate its own mythology. The film tries really hard to be grand - there are unmistakable shades of recent big-budget southern films in its over-stylized title cards and build-ups - but lacks the conviction to back them up, with the weak execution dragging it down like an anchor.

One of the problems is the flashbacks. Indeed, while the pacing of the movie is decent, the sheer number of flashbacks unleashes trauma. Some sequences appear four to five times throughout the film, while others pop up twice in a single minute. The overall effect is jarring. The central plot is simple and could have been impactful if fleshed out well, but the excessive detours (flashbacks) and subplots make the movie unnecessarily convoluted, predictable and dull.

The narrative deficiencies hit the business end of the movie too. When the supernatural finally manifests, you get fog-shrouded skeletal apparitions and menacing figures rising from the deep - they are visually striking, but strangely underwhelming. Exactly two types of supernatural beings emerge from the sea - the ladies in dozens and the gents solo - both resembling zombies. They do attack, but it looks more like caressing. Even Scooby Doo villains are more threatening. And most of all of that is ever explained.

GV as an actor shoulders the film well. His transformation is earnest, even if his character's decisions often aren't (blame the loose writing). The supporting cast, meanwhile, mostly exist to widen their eyes and scream as paranormal chaos unfolds.

Director Kamal Prakash exhibits a knack for eerie visuals, particularly in the stormy nighttime sequences that lend an ominous aura. The cinematography is actually commendable, capturing the gloom of the sea effectively. Despite much of the second half being set at sea - often in dark or poorly lit conditions - the cinematography ensures the visuals remain engaging, even as the storytelling works overtime to undo the impact.

However, the VFX, intended to immerse us in the movie's haunted seascape, barely stay afloat. The CGI often looks like something out of an early 2000s video game, making it hard to take seriously for long.

The sound design, handled by GV himself, is an aural onslaught. It's as if the film is desperately screaming "feel the epicness!" with an unrelenting, ear-shattering soundtrack. By the time the ghosts show up, you're already exhausted from the BGM. GV was never this loud - perhaps, as the lead actor, music director and co-producer, he became a little too self-indulgent.

If you're expecting Kingston to be a full-throttle maritime horror thriller, lower your sails. If you're a fan of GV and enjoy over-the-top, muddled maritime drama, you might find some entertainment here. Otherwise, you're better off watching the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies again.