Movie Review: Stree (2018)

Stree (2018) directed by Amar Kaushik

The town of Chanderi has a big problem. Every year during their multi-day festival, an evil witch spirit named Stree abducts men. They vanish from the town, leaving only clothing behind. The legend is she was supposed to marry but she and her fiance were killed on their wedding day. The townsfolk follow various rules to protect themselves, the most basic of which is to write "O Stree, come back tomorrow" on their walls or doors so that she won't come in to their homes. Men don't go out at night, at least not alone, unless they dress up as women. 

At this year's festival, master tailor Vicky (Rajkummar Rao) sees a girl (Shraddah Kapoor) that came last year. It's love at first sight for him. She asks him to make a dress for her. He readily agrees and she hints that she will be at the local shrine for evening devotion. He doesn't quite catch on that she wants to meet him there. After talking with his friends, he decides to go to devotion and does not want them along. He shows up but she's late and misses going into the sacred temple. She gives him a letter. Later, he goes to a party at a friend's house. He has to pee so he goes outside and inadvertently erases some of the "O Stree, come back tomorrow" writing on the wall. Stree shows up and takes one of the partiers.

The next day, he busts out the letter with his friends, charmed that she started with "My dear Vicky." The letter asks him to bring her some gifts--a bit of liquor, some hairs from a white cat, and a lizard's tail. His friends draw the obvious conclusion--she must be Stree. He is too blinded by love to believe it and gathers the stuff for their rendezvous. Thing get complicated from there.

The movie is more of a comedy than a horror film, though it does deliver some horrific moments. The moviemakers play with the viewer's expectations, creating some comedy and suspense at the same time. For example, there are many scenes of the camera approaching a guy from behind with creepy music, the typical POV shot of the monster. Sometimes it actually is the monster, sometimes it's just a regular person. The plot is entertaining with a couple of good twists and lends itself to plentiful comedic moments. As an Indian film, it has surprisingly few dance numbers, but the two or three in it showcase the exuberance of the cast and filmmakers.

Recommended for a light-weight comedy/horror experience.