Ronit J

Sister Midnight (2024) Synopsis:

In Mumbai, an arranged marriage spirals into darkness as the spineless husband watches his wife morph into a ruthless, feral force within their marital confines.

Sister Midnight (2024) Review:

I watched the trailer to Sister Midnight sometime in 2024, and have been meaning to see the film ever since. The trailer established the film to be a quirky, stylish, and unique cinematic voice. Reminiscent of Wes Anderson with plenty of absurdity thrown in the mix, Sister Midnight seemed like the perfect film to watch on a weekend for me.

But was it?

The opening scenes of the film establish Uma (Radhika Apte) as she sits in a train with her slumbering new husband, Gopal (Ashok Pathak). The train rolls into Mumbai at night, and Uma takes in the city that never sleeps through parted garlands. The newlyweds get down in a downtrodden slum-like area, where Gopal lives in a kholi (a tiny room without an attached bathroom).

The next day, Uma is awoken by mad honking and the hustle-bustle typical of Mumbai. Without knowing where Gopal is, she’s left to fend for herself, no idea of where she is and what she should do. What follows is an absurdist journey exploring the trials and tribulations of being a woman in an arranged marriage dealing with a society that’s as cruel as it is unaware. Also, there’s vampirism in the mix, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

A Unique Voice with a Strong Character

Sister Midnight is one of the most unique films I’ve watched this year. From its use of framing and camera work that echo Wes Anderson’s style, to its quirky dialogue and absurdist humour that goes beyond what Wes Anderson makes, Sister Midnight offers a unique story with characters that feel as real as they are caricatures. Uma is rebellious and loud, unflinching in the face of subversive authority.

With her husband being mostly absent, Uma manages to befriend her neighbour, Sheetal (Chhaya Kadam), from whom she learns to cook. Of course, she fails. Finally, she gets a job sweeping and mopping an office kilometres away, which is where Uma spends most of her time at night. This is a very barebones explanation of the story. But even in this you can see the seeds of a feminist narrative. Uma is not your typical female protagonist. Nor is she an upper caste, upper class woman with ample choices. She’s literally an everywoman, fighting to just survive in a world that’s getting madder than it was the day before. Karan Kandhari presents this narrative to us with all the quirks and symbolism you’d expect of a black comedy.

The visuals are stunning and picturesque, but the many absurd gags, dialogues and plot points are what make Sister Midnight a truly wonderful experience. Plus, the film is so quintessentially Mumbai that it was a delight to watch my city in all its filthy glory and chaos. The slums, the stray dogs, the infrastructural failure that we delude ourselves about by calling it the spirit of Mumbai… all feature prominently in the backdrop of Uma’s transformation.

Is Uma a Vampire?

The short answer is: yes. Doubling down on the symbolism, Uma’s slow empowerment is mirrored in her turning into a vampire. She’s bitten by a mosquito at a wedding she doesn’t want to attend. Her inability to cope with her feminine roles as a docile wife and society member further exacerbates as her vampiric tendencies result in her biting animals and feasting on their blood. Naturally, the world around her does not accept her for what she is: a progressive/vampire woman. Like the literal witch hunts of the past, people even try to burn her house down at one point. Yet, she perseveres because that’s just who Uma is.

However, the vampirism isn’t as overt. Uma’s behaviour seems as alien as your neighbourhood weirdo doing crazy things. It’s this strange balance between subtlety and absurdism that made drawing these connections a tad difficult. Especially in the second half, where the plot sort of feels all over the place. I guess I was expecting a different kind of movie, because around the part where Gopal dies, I started feeling lost. My immersion slowly broke because there was a lot happening, and I wasn’t able to engage with those ideas in the moment.

It’s an interesting take. Hilarious, dark, and often reflective. While I loved the treatment, and I did come to appreciate the symbolism after much reflection, the film did derail for me at one point, taking away from the amazing time I had in the first half.

Sister Midnight (2024) Ending Explained (SPOILERS)

So, what exactly happened to Uma (Radhika Apte) in Sister Midnight? Well, turns out that the mosquito (not explicitly confirmed) that bit her at the wedding turned her into a vampire. This explains why she bit and hid dead birds in her apartment, which later reanimated and flew around her. However, the same didn’t happen with Gopal; he dies after Uma supposedly bites him while making love.

What follows is Uma’s unhealthy mourning period, where she isolates herself completely, trying her best to reanimate Gopal’s corpse. Only when his ear and other parts start falling off does she finally accept that he’s passed. With Sheetal’s help, Uma cremates Gopal, proceeding to visit a monastery where she stays temporarily. Unlike the slum, the monastery accepts her for who she is—a living being.

After returning home, Uma is faced with a crowd that’s ready to burn her for witchcraft. However, she manages to escape after frightening them with her gaunt appearance. With Sheetal and the eunuch community’s help, Uma packs her bag and boards a train. The train is headed to the Himalayas, suggesting Uma might become a monk. However, on the train, she dons all black, finally embracing her identity as a vampire—Sister Midnight.

The last shot of the vampiric lambs chasing the train after her was—in my opinion—the filmmaker’s way of showing how Uma may try to run away from her problems, but can’t escape all of them. Also, the lambs are her responsibility in a sense, so maybe that’s a hint at her being pregnant? Or do they represent how herd mentality drives the unthinking?

What do you think the ending represented?

Is Sister Midnight (2024) worth watching?

Depends.

I absolutely adored the first half of the film. I was equally confused and out of the film in the second half. Narratively, the film felt a little too loose in its second half. Yet, when I think about the film, I can only remember its vibes and its introspective ideas.

If you like quirky cinema that can sometimes be confusing, Sister Midnight is right up your alley. But if you don’t want to ponder over what you see too much, then it might not work for you. For me, it worked and didn’t work in equal parts.

In Conclusion:

Sister Midnight (2024) is a film that is as absurdly brilliant as it is confusingly complex. The style becomes apparent almost instantly, but the substance below it demands reflection. If you’re up for it, this might be the film for you.

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• Island of the Dying Goddess

What did you think of Sister Midnight (2024)? Let me know in the comments below.

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