WEB

"Web" is a 2023 Indian Tamil-language psychological thriller movie directed and written by N. Haroon. Velan Productions produced the movie with V.M. Munivelan, starring Natty Subramaniam, Shilpa Manjunath, Rajendran, Subha Priya, and Shashvi Bala in the main cast. The movie takes the audience on a gripping, suspenseful ride filled with crime, mystery, and an unexpected psychological turn of events.
The story starts with four girls who, having attended a crazy rave party, get kidnapped while driving drunkenly on the road. They wake up bound and imprisoned in an abandoned bungalow without knowing where they are or by whom they were kidnapped. They find a fifth girl in the same location who seems to have been tortured for years. Fear starts to seep in as their kidnappers, an unknown man and woman, watch them with CCTV cameras and punish any breakout attempt.
Days go by in terror and disorientation, and before long, one of the girls is murdered and fed to a dog, increasing tension. The woman assisting the abductor finally discloses his sad history: his sister was murdered in a road accident brought about by reckless driving. He has been targeting people who drive carelessly ever since, avenging his loss.
Just as the remaining girls think they have escaped and come back home unscathed, a surprise truth surfaces. The alleged kidnapper is a renowned psychiatrist. Their parents, in a bid to put an end to their daughters' drink and drug addiction, had consented to an unusual 21-day recovery program formulated by the doctor. All the kidnapping, the torture, and even the deaths were scripted with the aid of actors.
Although its novelty of thought is good, "Web" fails to engage on an emotional level with the spectators. The surprise is unnatural, and the absence of characters' depth weakens the message conveyed by the movie.