Trauma

Trauma Movie Synopsis: Hidden connections between a childless couple, a young woman in love, and two car thieves lead to the exposure of a sinister medical crime ring.

Trauma Movie Review: Trauma asks the age-old question: if you’re drugged unconscious for fertility treatment and don’t notice, is it still a scam? The film follows three storylines that eventually intersect with mechanical predictability. Sundar (Vivek Prasanna) hides his impotence from wife Geetha (Chandini) while he pursues fertility treatments from questionable practitioners. Selvi (Poornima Ravi), a pump attendant, develops a relationship with the persistent Jeeva (Prathosh). Meanwhile, two petty thieves decide stealing cars is more profitable than wallets — a rare moment of sound logic in this universe.

The central scheme, involving fertility clinics and couples taking questionable medications, prompts several questions. No explanation is offered for how victims fail to question medication that renders them repeatedly unconscious, how assault goes undetected, or how blackmailers escape immediate police involvement. Why the drawn-out guilt over Sundar hiding his impotence from his wife? Any married woman would know. The film demands viewers accept not just one implausibility but an entire ecosystem of them.

Equating manhood with virility isn’t just outdated; it’s the emotional bedrock supporting the film’s entire creaky structure. When a cop delivers a philosophical lecture on manhood in the last act, it feels like the film is trying really hard to make a point, maybe a little too hard. The emotional scenes reach for depth, but settle for maudlin.

The cast performs admirably despite the material. Vivek Prasanna brings unexpected nuance to Sundar, suggesting depths never fully explored in the writing. Ananth Nag as his friend is way too convenient. Poornima Ravi works well against the narrative’s tendency to drown her in predictable family drama and tearful reactions. The rest deliver their parts.

It’s the kind of movie where you see the pieces, but the picture never quite clicks.

Written By: Abhinav Subramanian