Starring Rajkummar Rao, Huma Qureshi, and Radhika Apte, the neo-noir, murder mystery, Monica, O My Darling is now streaming on Netflix. Directed by Vasan Bala, the movie follows a slick robotics engineer, Jayant Arkhedkar, who gets embroiled in a murder conspiracy after an affair goes wrong. But, is the movie worth spending 140 minutes of runtime watching it? Read this review of Monica, O My Darling.

Apte, Qureshi, and Rao ace their roles

Well, with solid actors like Radhika Apte, Huma Qureshi, and Rajkummar Rao in the film, good performances were expected. But even then, it needs to be said that the three actors did a fabulous job of portraying their characters. You will be hard-pressed to find one fully positive or negative character in the movie. Every single character, be it the lead or the supporting cast, lives in the land of greys. And it’s difficult to make a grey character believable and likeable, but the actors manage to do exactly that. Sikander Kher, as Nishikant Adhikari, puts up a good performance despite the short screen time.

Monica Machado is not a self-sacrificing goody-two-shoes. She wants a comfortable, luxurious life and she is willing to go to any extent to achieve it. And she makes no qualms about it. Monica owns herself and her ambitions and is never ashamed of herself and her actions. She is who she is and is never afraid of who she sees in the mirror. Jayant too comes from nothing and works his way to the top, even if it involves some “ass-licking”. Like all half-decent men in the world, he too believes he is a nice guy but is also never hesitant to take morally ambiguous actions. The duality of his character is brought alive by Rajkummar Rao in the best possible way. Radhika Apte, as the quirky cop ACP Naidu, is one of the most fun characters and you wish you could see more of her.

Engaging to the core

Monica, O My Darling is engaging from the word go. It’ll have you in splits one moment and then have you gasping for breath. You won’t want to take your eyes away from the screen. While there are certain sections of the movie that are easily predictable, a major part of the movie comes as a surprise. The ending especially comes out of nowhere and leaves you thinking, “what the actual fuck”. The 80s vibe soundtrack was a perfect addition to the movie and went very well with the film and fit the genre as well.

Right off the bat, the movie starts with a gruesome murder, moves on to a lustful affair, introduces a femme fatale, a conspiracy to murder, and well, some more murders. Monica, O My Darling is not without its faults. The movie tries to do a little too much and provides way too many details in the second half, but the dialogues, performances, and the rest of the story do make up for it.

Monica, O My Darling is a fun ride that will have you holding your stomach with laughter while also holding on to the edge of your seat.

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