TEST Movie Review: In this Netflix Tamil film, desperate Kumudha and Saravanan find their lives colliding with hot-shot cricketer Arjun on the eve of a historic India-Pakistan cricket match. As Saravanan and Kumudha battle an uphill battle in their marriage, Arjun tests the boundaries of his personal and professional relationships—but what will this entail for them in the long run?
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Test Netflix Cast
R. Madhavan, Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, Lirish Rahav, Kaali Venkat, Murugadoss, Nassar, Mohan Raman, Vinay Varma
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Test Movie Writer & Director
S. Sashikanth
The film has a runtime of 145 minutes.
TEST Movie Review
Ah, the fragile male ego. Resorting to violence and kidnapping the moment it is challenged. TEST is more complicated than that, but it boils down to people refusing to get off their high horse and looking for validation for the wrong things.
The 2+ hours of runtime of the film are inundated with unnecessary sequences and overdramatic moments that could’ve been removed to make the runtime tighter. The film’s story also meanders a lot, doesn’t make much sense, and is a nuisance to watch overall. The fact that it dares to showcase this as based in reality is its biggest downfall, and the runtime just makes it worse. It definitely picks up the pace towards the end and is even thrilling at times, but I found myself losing interest by the mid-point as it drones on about the same things over and over again.
This is mostly a film about desperation. Kumudha is desperate to have a family, complete with her child. She is extremely maternal, to the point that her workplace is asking her to calm down with the gifts (she’s a teacher). Her husband, Saravanan, is a scientist from MIT who, unfortunately, resides in India and is desperate to get his hydro-fuel idea going. If you know anything about anything, a project cutting people’s costs and saving the planet is not something that any capitalist country will back up, so he’s already losing there. And then we have star cricketer Arjun, who loves cricket more than his wife and kids.
Clearly, these are all flawed characters, and viewers will find themselves hating everyone. None have any redeeming qualities, and even though the music cues will tell you to be compassionate towards Kumudha because she has mommy brain, she isn’t any better. Choosing to lie and have her child at the cost of another’s wellbeing is not how you should be venturing on this journey of motherhood, but hey, what do I know? Either way, the film’s antagonist is clearly Saravaran, who, for some reason, completely loses his marbles at being called unmanly by his wife.
It’s not the worst of insults out there, considering he has been giving Kumudha false hopes about having children, but you know, how dare she question his manliness? Of course, he does what any “man” would do — he slaps her unconscious, kidnaps a child and beats him as well. However, all this isn’t the problem. There are bad people out there, regardless of gender, who would do anything for money, etc. The problem with TEST is that it is an improbable mess of concepts that don’t stick together. Things change from one scene to another out of the blue, the buildup isn’t that great and, most importantly, things just don’t make sense.
I think whatever little the movie works is because of its performances. R. Madhavan, Nayanthara and Siddharth are at the top of their game and deliver believable performances. All of them are so natural in their emotional moments that you forget about the film’s inconsistent insanity and even feel a bit shaken sometimes. Madhavan bats it right out of the park with his unstable and scary Saravanan, who desperately wants to come out of being labelled a loser. It would’ve been great had the story been believable at all.
Final Thoughts
TEST is fine as a one-time watch. I think it’s somewhat enjoyable and thrilling at places. However, get ready to roll your eyes multiple times over the runtime. Everything just comes so easily to everyone that it seems that law and order are a joke. I mean, it might be for the common folks, but for a high-profile cricketer? Nah, not a chance!
Also Read: Your Friends and Neighbors Review: Perplexingly Mid!