Killer Soup Season 1 Review : A killer, dark, comedic thriller worth bingeing on

Killer Soup story: A wannabe but talentless chef dreams of opening a restaurant. But a murder foils her plan and sets a conspiracy in motion. She replaces her husband with her lover and hides a secret. A local inspector won’t rest until he has solved the mystery.

Killer Soup review: 'Killer Soup' has all the ingredients of a top-notch eccentric caper. A band of quirky characters serves this delectably sinister, funny, thrilling, and outright entertaining offering. It’s also peppered with the supernatural and poetry, making things more curious. 'Killer Soup' is not a suspense thriller, but as the narrative keeps you hooked, the treatment and the look give it a mysterious layer.

The show begins with Swathi Reddy (Konkona Sen Sharma) serving Paya Soup to her husband, Prabhakar Shetty (Manoj Bajpayee). Her eagerness and his reluctance to eat the soup tell you something’s fishy, and that sets the tone for the series. At the centre is Swathi’s aspiration to open her restaurant, but what unfolds gives you a peek into a world of deceit, lies, transactional relationships, and pure devilry.

A turn of events makes Swathi plant her lover, Umesh Pillai (also Manoj Bajpayee), as her husband. A crime has been committed, and now the duo must save themselves from the senior inspector (Nasser) and Prabhakar’s criminal brother, Arvind Shetty (Sayaji Shinde). The more they try, the deeper they get into a mess.

Director and writer Abhishek Chaubey’s triumph lies in how meaningful each scene is, and every detail has a purpose. You must pay keen attention throughout because the correlation will reveal itself later. For instance, mushrooms. Arvind tells a prospective buyer of his drug business — when taken in a pinch, the magic mushrooms will take you to Heaven, a fistful will you to Hell, but exceeding that would mean, ‘pack up.’ Almost at the end of the series, Swathi’s cooking teacher, Mehrunisa (Vaishali Bisht), uses the same description for the secret ingredient, black mushrooms, to transform the former’s tasteless soup.

Occasionally, the plot seems too busy with each character’s story, but Chaubey doesn’t loosen the grip on the overall narrative. And one of the most striking parts is the masterful mix of things. If there’s a dark tale-like quality that will remind you of a witch in the forest, there’s a swarm of fireflies that give it a fairytale-like feel; both are equally enticing.

Konkona Sen Sharma and Manoj Bajpayee are as impressive as ever. The triumph in their characterisation is that they are immoral, yet each has a redeeming side — Umesh has pangs of guilt at their wrongdoings, and Swathi has a genuine fondness for her niece, Apeksha (Anula Navlekar). And they both pull off all the nuances extraordinarily. However, the secondary and tertiary characters, especially Sayaji Shinde and Vaishali Bisht, must be applauded. Their on-screen presence is so powerful that you will be riveted every moment you spend with them. Nasser as the obsessed cop and Anula Navlekar as Arvind’s fierce daughter are excellent, too.

'Killer Soup' is a dark comedic thriller with nuances and layers that will keep you engrossed throughout. You will binge eat this killer dish Abhishek Chaubey has served!