Sunny Movie Review: Fails to engage or stay on point

Sunny the latest directorial venture of Ranjith Sankar has the same flaws as some of his earlier works, which is a shame because the movie in the first 30 minutes really surprised me with its subtle pacing and nuanced performance from the lead. However, by the last act of the movie all the usual troupes of Ranjith Sankar's brand of filmmaking, reared their ugly heads.

Jayasurya plays the titular character of Sunny a man who has returned home to Kerala after a failed marriage and being cheated out of his own business by his partner. Seeing that he has no reason to keep going with his life he decided to book a luxury suite in a 5-star hotel for his 7-day quarantine and spend that time drowning his sorrows with alcohol.

On paper, the movie sounds similar to the 1995 movie Leaving Las Vegas as both explored similar topics of addiction, depression, and suicide. Had the makers of this movie taken more time to flesh out this concept better especially in the last two acts, the movie could have stood out. Don't get me wrong Sunny is not a bad movie. At just under 90 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome, it is just that by the time the movie ends it feels forgettable.

The two things that hold up the movie are the performance from Jayasurya, he does his best with what he is given and understands the need for a more held back and organic performance. There is a scene in the movie when his upstairs neighbour catches him in an awkward position his reaction conveys guilt and childlike innocence, moments like these are littered across the movie and are a treat to watch. 

The cinematography by Madhu Neelakandan is excellent as he manages to structure the scenes between the long corridors, the rooms and manages to showcase the claustrophobia and paranoia experienced by the character. Had Renjith Sankar not tried to over-explain the point the movie was trying to put across and not reduced the impact of the climax by adding 'plot twists' one after the other in quick succession this would have been a better movie

Sunny feels like a movie that has a great concept but due to its treatment lacks the impact the makers were aiming for.