Ahead of the release of her gritty series Dahaad, Sonakshi Sinha has once again adorned the role of a protector of justice. The actor is back on Prime Video with System, a courtroom drama directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari. This time, she’s traded a police uniform for a lawyer’s suit, and the story is asking some big questions about privilege, class, and the very slippery idea of justice. The movie’s premise as a female-led legal drama is exciting, but does it deliver? Read our System movie review to know.

System movie review: Two women, one case and no easy answers

Sonakshi plays Neha Rajvansh, a public prosecutor from a prestigious family. Her father (Ashutosh Gowariker) is a legal heavyweight, and Neha needs to win 10 consecutive cases to earn a seat at his firm. She’s ambitious, polished, and very much a product of the world she’s trying to crack. On the other side of the courtroom dynamic is Sarika (Jyotika), a stenographer who comes from a completely different world. She’s street-smart, guarded, and knows quite a lot about the law purely by virtue of witnessing so many arguments. The two women somehow end up working together on a case that gets messier the deeper it goes. The best thing about the film is that neither of them is written as purely good or purely bad. Both have their own reasons for doing what they do, and that keeps things interesting.

What System does really well is resist the urge to make either woman a simple archetype. Neha isn’t just a spoilt rich girl learning a lesson, and Sarika isn’t a saintly representative of the downtrodden. There are agendas on both sides, and the film is most alive when it sits in that uncomfortable middle ground where you’re not quite sure who to root for. Tiwari, who’s shown with Bareilly Ki Barfi and Panga that she has a genuine feel for women navigating systems not built for them, brings that same sensibility here, though the setting is sharper and the stakes are higher.

Jyotika leads the way in this film

Jyotika is the beating heart of this film. She plays Sarika like someone who has had to fight for everything and has learned to keep her cards very close to her chest. She is so calm and composed during most of the film, and yet, you can’t take your eyes off her. There’s a scene towards the end that hits really hard, and it works almost entirely because of her.

Sonakshi holds her own too. Her character Neha starts off a bit overconfident and slowly starts realising the world doesn’t work the way she thought it did. It’s a believable arc, and Sonakshi plays it without going over the top. Ashutosh Gowariker is solid in support. He is calm, imposing, and ruthless, like any heavyweight lawyer.

Where the film starts to drag

System loses its footing, unfortunately, in the writing. During the second half, the film starts to linger a bit too long on moments that have already made their point. On the other hand, there are a handful of scenes where things happen too conveniently, questioning the credibility of it all. When the narrative needs to pull threads together, the film starts to drag a bit. The film has important things to say about corruption and class, and it says them well, but sometimes, it says them twice when it doesn’t need to. It over-explains what the actors have already shown you through their performances. A little more trust in the audience would have taken this from a good film to a great one.

Still, System is a film worth your time. It’s sincere, it’s smartly cast, and it has something real to say about how justice looks entirely different depending on where you’re standing when you look at it. This movie has the good sense to find its drama in people rather than plot twists.

Can you watch System with your family?: Yes, the movie has no explicit scenes or abusive language.

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