Paradise review: Prasanna Vithanage's gripping social thriller deftly examines Sri Lanka's financial crisis and its devastating influence on its citizens
'Paradise' is a social thriller co-written and directed by Sri Lanka's veteran filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage, which explores the struggles faced by Sri Lankan citizens in their everyday lives because of lack of basic necessities such as shortage of fuel and electricity after the Sri Lankan government declared bankruptcy on 12 April 2022.
The film, which is now available to stream on Amazon Prime, examines various social and financial issues confronting common Sri Lankan citizens during this bankruptcy period through the eyes of a couple from Kerala, Kesav (Roshan Mathew) and Amritha (Darshana Rajendran), who arrive in Sri Lanka on 20 June 2022 for a 2-3 day tour as tourists to celebrate their five-year anniversary.
Kesav has just received a good news that his project is approved by Netflix. The couple is now in good times in contrast to the Sri Lanka citizens who are probably going through the worst phase of their lives. We see small kids queuing on the side of the road for selling fruits. There is no use of the background score during most of the scenes. The tourist guide helps the couple visit multiple sites from Ramayana including where Ravana kept Sita after kidnapping her. Some Sri Lankans believe that Ravana is not dead, but in a deep slumber. Amritha even says that "it's a good time for Ravana to wake up from his slumber and save Lanka".
The filmmaker Vithanage does an outstanding job of helping you comprehend both Kesav and Amritha's contrasting points of view about this struggle of Sri Lanka's common citizens. You can understand Kesav's frustration and lack of sympathy as he is about to achieve something good in his life after five years of struggle and extreme hard work. However, something terrible happens to him during their 3 days stay in Sri Lanka, which might derail his success and make all his five years of hard work go in vain. At the same time, you also comprehend his partner Amritha's point of view, which is sympathetic to this group of individuals who have lost everything they have worked so hard for, through no fault of their own. Both Kesav and Amritha are anxious during this trip for completely different reasons, but the writer-director has done an excellent job of making the viewers feel both characters' anxiety at the same time because we already know how the couple views this situation with opposing perspectives and we are eager to find out whether and how it will affect their relationship. In fact, if you have moral principles and do not believe in spreading violence, the film will undoubtedly put you in a moral quandary.
What I really liked about the film was how it kept us riveted to the screen while simultaneously but gradually peeling off layers of the negative effects of Sri Lanka's financial crisis on its citizens, as well as how Kesav and Amritha's opposing perspectives on the country's financial crisis are slowly affecting their five-year relationship. And the film's writers and the director have also done a really smart job by presenting the economical crisis in a matter of fact manner, which keeps the viewers guessing till the end which side the film will endorse and whether it endorses the same side they support. By keeping the viewers in the dark about which side the film endorses, the film keeps us glued to the seat till the end.
Roshan Mathew and Darshana Rajendran, who had previously starred as an onscreen couple in films such as 'C U Soon'(2020), and anthology film 'Aanum Pennum'(2021), once again show with this film that they share such a great chemistry that it genuinely makes us feel like they are real-life couples. They give a superbly subtle performance as a couple who is celebrating their five-year anniversary and gradually discovering that they hold a very contrasting opinion about a certain crisis and how their difference in perspective might affect their relationship. The rest of the cast, especially Sri Lankan actors Shyam Fernando and Mahendra Perera have also delivered a nuanced performance in their respective roles of tourist guide and police inspector.
I also really appreciated Rajeev Ravi's camerawork, especially when he explores the magnificent mythological tourist spots of Sri Lanka with eye-catching greenery and juxtaposes them with images of residents protesting against their government and these scenes are purposefully shot in completely desaturated colours to highlight Sri Lankan citizens' current state.
The film is only 94 minutes long, but despite such short length, Vithanage delves deeply into the numerous layers of Kesav and Amritha's five-year relationship, as well as Sri Lanka's financial crisis and its negative impact on its residents' daily lives. So although 'Paradise' is probably not going to be a cult-classic, visual masterpiece, it definitely deserves to be applauded for its compelling screenplay that explored Sri Lanka's financial crisis and its negative impact on its residents' daily lives without any compromise.
Cast: Roshan Mathew, Darshana Rajendran, Shyam Fernando
Writers: Prasanna Vithanage, Anushka Senanayake
Director: Prasanna Vithanage
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