Curry & Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph Case Movie Review: A decent but loosely done attempt to tell a crime story

A documentary about a true event can be very hard when the case in question is still under trial. Curry and Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph case directed by Christo Tomy is an exploration of the Koodathayi Murders, an actual event that happened in Koodathayi in Kerala where a woman, Jolly Joseph, allegedly killed six members of her family including her husband.The documentary explores the events that happened in her family from 2002 to 2016, starting with the alleged murder of Jolly 's mother-in-law, Annamma Joseph. The beginning of Jolly's relationship with her late husband Roy Thomas, how it culminated in a marriage and what could have been her motives to commit each murder is communicated through testimonials from family members, the investigating officer of the case, researchers etc. While most of the information is known to the general public, a systematic analysis tries to gives more perspective to people who wonder how or why someone would do something so terrible. However, whether they succeeded in doing it is another question altogether. The documentary also knowingly or unknowingly throws light into the many loopholes the case has and leaves viewers with several questions about all the post-mortems that were never done, lack of suspicion towards Jolly for over a decade when she was essentially present in all of the crime scenes, her true motives etc..The writing by Shalini Ushadevi , the sequencing of events and the statements from family members gives it the subtle but required emotional connection to viewers. The score by Tushar Lall maintains a certain respectability and a sense of being in the periphery which contributes to the sensitive treatment given to the documentary. The frames, especially the ones where the turmoil inside the family is shown subtly are well thought out. The way in which the documentary delves into each murder is done neatly. The darkness lingering in the frames..even when showing the lush green Idukki where Jolly hails from leaves the lingering feel of unease anyone would have about such a horrific case, and at the same time throws light into how Jolly saw her home which was, according to the documentary, something that restricted her flamboyant self. It is a relatively short watch but it doesn't offer anything new to those who have followed the extensive coverage of the case back in 2019.