Sister Midnight: a punk and feminist manifesto (critic)
A first long reversing long that seizes the theme of forced marriage in a perfect mixture of fantastic and humor
Indian cinema has deeply marked the 2024 edition of the Cannes Film Festival. With three films (to which we can add The Shamelesswhose action is also located in India but produced by the Bulgarian Konstantin Bojanov) staged by Indian directors and telling stories of women refusing to submit to the dictates of a patriarchal society. All we imagine as light From Payal Kapadia, left from La Croisette with a Grand Prix. Santosh by Sandhya Suri who was one of the success- surprise of the box-office last summer, after his transition to a certain look. And so Sister Midnightthis first length of their male counterpart Karan Kandhari, discovered at the fortnight of filmmakers. The nitlink of this trio although starting from a subject that lends itself to anything except entertainment: arranged marriage. In this case that of Uma landing in Mumbai to live with a man whom she does not know and as little prepared as him in life as a couple. Except that UMA, unable to hold a home as the tradition requires, has absolutely nothing of a passive victim who laments his fate. She swears like a carter, clashes her husband, clearly displays her sexual frustration … so that her impulses will gradually transform her into a horrific creature. A thousand places of the societal film, Sister Midnight The Punk manifest is manifested, doped at the Burlesque comedy, starting with the very Keatonian game of her irresistible main actress, Rahika Apte. A hectic anthem at Girl Power.
By Karan Kandhari. With Radhika Apte, Chhaya Kadam, Smita Tambe… Duration 1h50. Release on June 11, 2025
