The Goat Life

Let me put this disclaimer first, my show at INOX, Mantri Mall did not have any English subtitles and me watching this film as well as writing this review is based on my understanding of Malayalam dialogues and the ones I didn't understand yet followed it through the context. Sadly, all the Arabic dialogues which had subtitles was in Malayalam and I understood none of them. This however impacted my viewing the most during the round up scene with the sponsors.

Based on the novel which itself was based on a true story, this survival tale of a man forced to be a slave while enduring the mental and physical abuse. Even his brief attempt at rebelling is thwarted furiously and the way he gives up is perfectly captured. There were several moments that stood out like the emotional goat scene to that crucial bathing scene in the second half. Several shots stood out too capturing the stunning desert.

However, with the runtime being close to 3hrs, there were moments where the proceedings got monotonous and in those moments, I wished for more moments from his life in Kerala to have been added. Nevertheless, the conviction of the entire team is highly commendable and I did like the songs as well as the background score. It is a straight forward survival drama and despite it's shortcomings, the attempt alone should be lauded.