Betaal Review: Descends into a Dark Tunnel of Mediocrity!

Created by Patrick Graham, Betaal, the new horror Original series on Netflix, is comparable to its predecessor – GHOUL, in a few instances, which also utilizes a modern setting to showcase a narrative around a folklore monster or an urban legend.

Starring Viineet Kumar and Aahana Kumra in the lead roles, the storyline of Betaal begins with a private contractor working his best to make way through a tunnel for his highway project to pass. Despite major efforts from his team, the tribals living in the area refuse to open up the tunnel feeling apprehensive about a Betaal’s curse, which they consider as a threat to the entire nation. Subsequently, the remainder of the series showcases how a special task force unit tries to break into the tunnel, which leads to consequences, unlike anything they’ve seen before.

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Directed by Patrick Graham and Nikhil Mahajan, let’s begin with the positives, a handful of aspects with which Betaal managed to succeed and compel me as a viewer. First off, the dark, gloomy setting and the eerie vibe accommodated the narrative and the genre accurately. With the entire series shot, for the most part, during night-time, the archaic production design accompanied by some striking prosthetic, and well though-out makeup at least elevated the horror ambiance of the show decently.

Furthermore, on the technical side of things, the crisp sound design and the superlative sound edit in tandem with the exceptional background score helped the show even better from start to finish.

The main crux of the show is also, to the point, and has a sense of urgency from the very beginning. Packed within four forty-minute episodes, I was able to get through the series comfortably without getting exhausted. However, what seems to be a double-edged sword, Betaal also suffers from the four-episode structure at the same time as the lack of character development is noticeable throughout its entirety. With a narrative that has a clear understanding of navigating from point A to point B, the characters of the show managed to get no love from the screenwriters, regardless of the brief subplots, here and there.

Additionally, the horrendous dialogue continues to diminish these characters, which are already having a difficult time connecting to the audience emotionally. The bland lines seemed like something you would see straight out of a Hollywood film dubbed in Hindi as they felt very silly and so wooden through and through.

The performances are also something that I cannot get behind, especially from the protagonist, Viineet Kumar. I don’t know if it’s the awful writing, the terrible dialogue, or the lackluster character, his performance felt so ordinary, contrary to his super charismatic co-star Aahana Kumra, who is the only ray of sunshine and the star of an otherwise very mediocre show.

Overall, Betaal starts on a high note and quickly descends into the dark tunnel of mediocrity and ordinariness. The terrific setting and the chilling vibe could’ve worked even better with superior execution of the storyline, polished screenwriting, and compelling characters coupled with splendid performances. Regardless of the ultimate quality of the product put out by Netflix, I can’t complain further because the show is just below three hours, which is easily binge-able on any given day. Watch ‘Betaal’ on Netflix here.

Rating – 2.5/5 | Grade – C+

Images via Netflix

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