“Evil Eye” is a beautiful suspense tale about haunted romance While not rising to typical horror expectations, the suspense is delightfully intense

Evil Eye perhaps suffers from the same name flaw as The Lie does: where the title of the film either betrays too much or is an unintended mislead the audience becomes stuck in.

When this film is viewed more as a romantic suspense-thriller instead of a supernatural horror, the distraction of expecting a horror element vanishes, and the intensity of the story shines clearer and more brightly.

The slow progression into Usha’s increasing worry and paranoia about Pallavi’s future, about whether she’s cursed to be alone or if she’ll find a husband, is delightfully annoying, because most children have experienced the nagging phone call from a busybody mother, asking when you’re going to grow up and settle down like all the older relatives expect you to. Pallavi’s exasperation at not being able to escape that question in every call is palpable, and adds to the levels of communication breakdowns we experience as the story progresses into Usha’s suspicions about Pallavi’s new boyfriend, Sandeep.

When the audience is treated to Pallavi’s slow spiral into the malevolent relationship traps orchestrated by Sandeep, and the growing panic Usha has for her daughter’s safety, there is an uncomfortable tension that heightens the peril we see waiting, and not being certain whether Pallavi or Usha is the one in the most danger.

The connections in the story seem to hint that karma is indeed ruling their fates, but we never get any hints as to whether these souls colliding with each other over and over again is something that’s been happening in Usha’s family line for a while, or if this is a new burden that needs to be faced before it can be cleared. While closure of that circle isn’t necessary, it would have been a nice tease to find out if it was something that could even be possible.

The film is beautifully shot, and subtle color palettes and patterns distinguish between the scenes in America and the scenes in India, and are enhanced by the clothing and architectural designs.

It is very easy to get caught up in the unfolding family and relationship dramas, and watch the fraying edges of trust and belief around Sandeep’s gaslighting and Usha’s belief in the spiritual dangers she believes she and her daughter are in keeps the tension enjoyably excruciatingly high.

And again, the biggest thing to remember is that when you can drop any expectations of the type of horror story one is accustomed to seeing when the name “Blumhouse” is associated with, any story confusion from the anticipation of a horror element disappears and elevates the story and the film.

A solid 3 out of 5 stars

Also, don’t miss our discussion about Evil Eye and Nocturne in our episode, “Welcome to the Blumhouse”, Part 2

At home in Delhi, India, proud parent Usha Khatri (Sarita Choudhury) is overjoyed when her daughter Pallavi (Sunita Mani) calls from New Orleans with news she has met someone special. But as Usha learns more about Pallavi’s wealthy boyfriend Sandeep (Omar Maskati), she becomes convinced something more nefarious than chance brought the young couple together. When Pallavi announces her engagement to Sandeep, mother and daughter are forced to confront dark family secrets and a terrifying supernatural force in this stylish psychological thriller.

Starring: Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani, Omar Maskati, and Bernard White
Directed by: Elan Dassani and Rajeev Dassani
Written by: Madhuri Shekar
Based off the award-winning, best-selling Audible Original production written by Madhuri Shekar