Tuesday 21 December 2021

Typewriter (Netflix)


If you're looking for a different kind of ghost story over the Christmas season, you might try Typewriter, which I enjoyed a lot. Set in the Indian state of Goa, it has a lot of familiar ingredients. It's a five-parter that packs a lot into its regular-length TV episodes. Here are some pesky kids, complete with a dog, forming a ghost hunting club. Here is a young family moving into an old house where, it turns out, the wife's grandparents lived - and died in unusual circumstances. Sinister characters, one of them distinctly murderous, are watching the house and awaiting the Blood Moon. 

The Ghost of Sultanpore is the central spook, mentioned in a bestselling book by the author who one owned Bardez Villa. The book was written on the Remington typewriter that's the central McGuffin of the serial. And the various twists and turns that links all these elements are nicely handled. (Also, Buddy the lovable dog escapes unscathed, in case you were worried.) It's a good example of a supernatural thriller that knows what it's doing, and how far to push the fantasy elements. There's also room for a sequel.

The acting is top-notch, particularly from star Palomi Ghosh (also seen in Sense8), and while subtitles are useful much of the dialogue is in English. It's visually as good as anything US or UK TV has done along these lines - perhaps a little better, as writer-director Sujoy Ghosh makes good use of the (to me) unfamiliar but very interesting settings of Goa. 

1 comment:

Helen said...

Thanks for the recommendation - might give this a go!


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