"Demon" (2023) is a horror film in the Tamil language written and directed by Ramesh Pazhaniivel and produced by R. Somasundaram. The movie has Sachin Mani and Abarnathi as lead actors, with Suruthi Periyasamy, Kumki Aswin, and Raveena Daha as important supporting actors.
The narrative takes us through "Vignesh Shivan" (Sachin Mani), a budding director who wants to direct a scintillating horror film. With his first producer finally found, Vignesh chooses to cut himself off from all kinds of distractions and takes up an empty flat in the middle of the city. Hopes of penning a thrilling script drive him to work isolated.
Parallelly, Vignesh is romanced by a girl "Divya" (Abarnathi), and their relationship becomes more serious over time. Both the families are approached for blessings and marriage plans. But with the passage of days, Vignesh starts getting some weird experiences in his new house. He is tormented with dreadful dreams and some scary sounds that disturb his sleep and disturb his mental calm. The nightmares get more frequent and vivid and start making him doubt his sanity.
Vignesh starts to excavate the past of the apartment and suspects that something sinister might have occurred there. As he gets deeper, he uncovers spine-chilling facts about the former inhabitants of the building; facts that could explain the strange phenomena around him.
"Demon" tries to be a psychological horror thriller with a unique premise and scale. While the plot is promising, the film falls into traditional horror clichés like jump scares and dreams, making it predictable. While there is an interesting premise and a reasonably good performance by Sachin Mani, repetition in narrative and failure to create genuinely frightening moments lead to an unimpressive horror experience for horror fans.