O2 Movie Rating: 2.5/5
Cast: Nayanthara, Rithvik, Barath Neelakantan
Director: GS Viknesh
Streaming on: Disney + Hotstar
Debutant director GS Viknesh’s O2 may not be an edge-of-the-seat survival thriller, but it’s powerful enough to keep you hooked throughout with distinct characters. ‘Nature is ruthless when threatened,’ says Nayanthara in the very first scene, giving us a gist of what we are about to the witness in the next couple of hours. The story revolves around the lives of a mother and her eight-year-old kid with breathing difficulties and how the former fights hard to keep him safe despite a life-threatening situation. For the first 15 minutes of the movie, we get repeated shots and a song to establish a rudimentary point about a mother’s unconditional love for her son. After we get past some expendable narrative obligations, we get to the interesting part. Parvathy’s (Nayanthara) son Veera (Rithvik) suffers from a medical condition that requires him to be on oxygen support round the clock. But, his suffering is about to end, as he will soon undergo a life-saving surgery, which will allow him to breathe normally without any support. Parvathy and Veera are headed towards a Cochin hospital for the surgery. Everything is packed, including an extra oxygen tank and Veera’s pet pot plant. Both play a crucial role in the events that are about to unfold.
A landslide buries the bus carrying Parvathy and Veera and turns the vehicle into a massive coffin. As the people in the bus continue to bicker without being aware of the actual problem at hand, Parvathy intervenes and enlightens them about the grave situation they are in. “We are stuck inside a coffin. We are running low on oxygen.” She advises the passengers to not use up all the air in the bus by physical and mental exertion. They all seem to understand the gravity of the situation, at first. But, soon everything begins to fall apart.
The bus they travel in tumbles into a pit following a disastrous landslide. The two, along with other passengers, get trapped inside with bleak chance of survival. As the fight for oxygen begins, the rest of the film is all about how the mother saves her child and the only oxygen cylinder that is crucial for him.
O2 has its heart in right place and builds up the momentum periodically through a gripping narration. However, the writing gets weak towards the end, especially the climax sequence, which could have been more impactful. A medical student who is waiting to elope with his girl friend, an ex-MLA and an arrogant cop with horrific intentions — all of them get stuck in a situation where they gasp for oxygen. While all these make for interesting plot points, the character arc of everyone, except the lead characters, goes wrong terribly.
For instance, Rishikanth’s character, a medical student, who tries to be a saviour of sorts initially only to his real colours as the film progresses. In fact, most of the characters in the film lose steam. At one point, every characters in the film displays a negative shade, which is completely fine, but here, it isn’t believable and looks underwhelming.
The point when Parvathy tries to save her kid from cop, Karunai Rajan (Bharath Neelakandan), who wants to save himself using the only oxygen cylinder left makes the drama more interesting. Nayanthara’s performance in this scene is one of the highlights of the film. It’s more natural and makes us feel the pain of a mother fighting to save her kid against all odds.Child actor Rithvik’s performance is effective but I wish the character behaved his age and not mouth lengthy dialogues. Be it Nayanthara or mother nature, they take the most ruthless form when threatened. But the writing is too predictable with excessive exposition. There are too many logical loopholes as well. Even when everyone else (including the viewer in me) feels the suffocation, Nayanthara is hardly moved. It’s only towards the end that she feels the pressure and by that time, we start losing interest.
In any survival story, the key is to have the audience at the edge of their seat and make us feel for them. O2 falters here. Neither does it keep us engaged throughout nor does it have an emotional connection.O2 is a pretty engaging survival drama which distinguishes between brute force and real heroism. We sometimes seem to confuse heroism with physical prowess. But, heroes come in all shapes and sizes.
Watch O2 on Disney Plus Hotstar.
