Log-out. Yes, it’s time

Predictable. Not scary. You may get that feeling when you start watching this thriller. After all, haven’t we watched so many of these already! Movies or documentaries that shine a brutal light on how helplessly addicted we have become to our screens, and on the dangers that lurk there? We have seen ‘The Social Dilemma’ a few years back. We – at least some of us- have seen CTRL (directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and starring Ananya Pandey) a few months back. Apart from the usual alarms that we catch when they beep from ‘Black Mirror’. So what’s different about this new thriller called ‘Logout’ (directed by Amit Golani)? Except that it makes you think of why its lead actor Babil Khan reminds you so much, and so fondly, of the legend Irrfan Khan. And not just because he looks like him.

Hmm. What’s different in this story? Not much. At first. It will take you back to the good old days of watching those silly Horror Movies where you would utter some unsolicited, desperate, advice at every next scene. Like- ‘Don’t go there, you stupid girl’ or ‘Don’t mock him, you idiot boy’ or ‘Hurry! Turn around, it’s right there’ or ‘Run, you moron!’.

Lines like these would trickle randomly out of your mouth again, with enough chorus from the people around you when you are watching ‘Logout’ together. Like: ‘Don’t give that OTP, you fool.’ Or ‘But why are you telling your password?!’ Or this. ‘It’s common sense. Forget the Likes. Report it to cyber-crime first.’

And just when you are about to add ‘What idiot connects and keeps everything – from a vacuum cleaner to a shopping app to a Voice Assistant to the house’s smart lights to all passwords-on-a-notepad to family pictures- on one device?!’ you pause with guilt. Something scratches you from inside before you are about to say ‘Don’t tell me this guy does not remember even one phone number without the help of a contact-list!’. Something laughs at you when you wonder ‘What is that itch, that dopamine, when his phone beeps with another ‘like’ sign or notification or message? Why does he not look at his sister when she is talking to him with so much love? Where the ‘beep-beep’ is his attention? What’s this hard-to-shun-off FOMO he is chained to?’ Something stands stubbornly between your reaction and that smirk. Between calling him the idiot and realising he is not alone.

That something is Self-reflection. Truth. Regret. Are we not trapped, obsessed, addicted and helpless like he is? There is a reason we do not feel even the need to cheer from his side when he is being blackmailed. We don’t pity him when he is exploited by a crazy stalker (by the way, remind me of watching ‘Baby Reindeer’ some time). He has been stripped off all empathy, sensitivity and common sense. He does not say or do a single thing which makes you care for him. He only yells. He only swears. He only grovels. He is only buried inside his phone- whether he is talking to a human with complete (and shameless) neglect or walking in front of a truck on a busy road. Greedy and stingy of even an iota of attention – that’s all he is- to everyone in his life. Except when he sets a rat free.

Alas, he realises it too late that while the rat needed a human to trap him and set it free; as a human he always had the choice. And as he tries to unplug himself from every grid and device, he is exhausted with every button he presses. There are just too many of them. That’s when the real horror-movie steps out. Watch what happens next if you cannot foretell it already.

As the last few minutes pull you out of your ‘we know what’s gonna happen’ deep-sofa to the edge of the chair, the killing of the villain makes it worth the watch. And what adds a real treat to your eyes is that, at least, there is one person who is actually watching the kids sing and dance on the stage – from human eyes, and not from a screen, with mobiles flashing in every single hand. But then, there is the very last scene when the villain grins at you and winks ‘You thought I died, Huh?’

As you read this review, you may want to pause and look around if that villain is staring at you too. Ask ‘May be it’s time I logged out once in a while’.

So- Is the movie not predictable? Hell, yes it is.

Predictable. Hence, scary.

P.S. When the end credits run, and you see the writer’s name ‘Biswapati Sarkar’, you slap yourself on the head – of course, it had to be so well-written, ruthless and able to grab your ‘attention’ even if the movie- for the most part- is about just a guy in front of a screen in a dim-lit room.