‘Bouma’ movie review: Despite familiar settings, an engaging gothic horror until the final fumble

Rejin S. Babu, the writer and director of Bouma, probably believes in the old adage of the journey being more important than the destination. The destination, predictably, in this gothic horror is an old haunted bungalow where the film comes to a rather underwhelming, open-ended climax.

The mysterious happenings within the bungalow gives one a ‘been there, done that’ feeling, for the setting is familiar from numerous films. However, the happenings outside, where the film spends much of its runtime, evokes much curiosity. This is something the film manages to maintain almost until the last act.

The choice to not confine the characters mostly within the bungalow did pay off in a way. Bouma takes off unhurriedly through the point of view of Celine (Revathy Sarma), a singer at a resto-bar, and her live-in partner Jacob (Sagar Surya), a food delivery worker. The struggling couple appears to have landed the jackpot when she comes to know that she has been bequeathed with ancestral property of immense value.