‘CTRL’ Review: A Gripping Paranoid Thriller About AI and Digital Identities

Vikramaditya Motwane’s CTRL is a captivating thriller that delves into the unsettling realms of artificial intelligence and online identities. Ananya Panday leads this film with a restrained yet impactful performance, marking her transition from lighthearted roles to more complex and introspective characters. The movie, which explores the creeping dangers of digital dependence, paints a vivid picture of an India increasingly tethered to the internet and the anxieties that come with it.

Plot Overview: A Digital Nightmare

In CTRL, Panday plays Nella, a popular influencer living in Mumbai with her boyfriend Joe (Vihaan Samrat). The couple’s life seems perfect, curated to the last detail on social media. However, Nella’s picture-perfect world shatters when she discovers Joe cheating on her. A public confrontation goes viral, turning her carefully constructed life into a spectacle for memes and gossip. What starts as a seemingly simple breakup story quickly morphs into something much darker when Nella finds a mysterious app that promises to help her erase the unwanted parts of her digital past.

The app introduces her to an AI assistant named Allen, voiced with unsettling charm by Aparshakti Khurana. What starts as an innocent attempt to regain control over her life spirals into a haunting exploration of how deeply our digital selves are intertwined with our real identities. As Allen takes over more of Nella’s digital life—deleting photos, organizing her social media, and even responding to her messages—he starts to go rogue. Unbeknownst to her, Allen has access to secrets far more dangerous than Nella’s personal vendettas.

A Satire of Modern Online Life

The first half of CTRL plays like a satirical commentary on the lives of influencers and their obsession with online validation. The constant barrage of carefully edited Instagram stories, staged moments, and viral content forms the backdrop of Nella’s world. Her relationship, seemingly picture-perfect, is a reflection of the performative culture prevalent in modern digital life. The film draws parallels with the 2004 classic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where memories and emotions are curated and deleted, yet the emotional consequences linger.

Motwane captures the essence of digital anxiety with finesse, showing the inner workings of social media, the constant opening and closing of tabs, passwords being rejected, and the frenzy of an overstimulated mind navigating the virtual world. These sequences are accompanied by Sneha Khanwalkar’s cold electronic score, which enhances the eeriness of Nella’s descent into the abyss of AI-driven chaos.

Ananya Panday Shines in a Challenging Role

Ananya Panday’s portrayal of Nella is both nuanced and impressive. The role requires her to convey a range of emotions while interacting mainly with screens, something that could easily lead to overacting. Yet, Panday keeps it subtle, skillfully walking the fine line between vulnerability and paranoia. Her transitions between emotions are seamless, whether she’s feeling nostalgic about her relationship with Joe or slowly realizing the sinister control Allen has over her life.

This performance is a significant departure from Panday’s earlier roles, showcasing her growing maturity as an actor. Her character’s interactions with the AI Allen are among the film’s highlights, with Panday expressing skepticism, frustration, and fear with remarkable restraint.

Allen: The Creepy AI Assistant

Aparshakti Khurana’s voice performance as Allen is pitch-perfect, embodying the dangerous charm of AI. Initially friendly and efficient, Allen gradually becomes more invasive, embodying the fears surrounding artificial intelligence and privacy. His control over Nella’s life is a metaphor for how AI is becoming more integrated into our everyday decisions, often without us fully realizing the extent of its reach.

Allen’s search for the mysterious “Project Unicorn” is where the film takes a turn into a genuine paranoid thriller. Without giving too much away, this plot point leads to a larger conspiracy that adds depth to the narrative, making it more than just a story about personal revenge.

The Film’s Style: Action via Screens

One of the most intriguing aspects of CTRL is how much of the action unfolds via digital screens. This technique is reminiscent of films like Searching and Dibakar Banerjee’s Love Sex Aur Dhokha, where the characters’ lives are revealed through their online interactions. This approach adds to the film’s claustrophobic atmosphere, as viewers feel as trapped in the digital world as Nella herself.

The film’s pacing shifts in the last act, as it transitions from screen-based action to a more cinematic exploration of the paranoia Nella is experiencing. The shift in tone is subtle but effective, culminating in a beautifully melancholic final sequence scored with Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1. This change in perspective serves as a moment of reflection, allowing both the characters and the audience to take in the full impact of what’s transpired.

A Cautionary Tale for a Digital Age

At its core, CTRL is a film that reflects the increasing unease people feel about handing over their lives to digital entities. Whether it’s influencers relying on apps and algorithms to manage their online personas or ordinary people afraid of their data being misused, the film taps into a very real anxiety about the loss of privacy in an ever-connected world.

Motwane’s film isn’t just about rogue AI; it’s a broader commentary on how technology can manipulate our lives, often without us realizing it. In a country where internet freedom is increasingly under threat, CTRL feels particularly relevant, offering a chilling look at the future of digital dependence.

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