The Deserving Movie Review
The Deserving, brought to us by writer/director Koka Singh Arora, is a weird, confusing little tale that has to do with regret, redemption…and ghosts.
Our lead character, Karter (Venkat Sai Gunda), is a well-known celebrity photographer who specializes in portraits/headshots. He’s also notable in his industry because he happens to be mute. Oh, and he may also like to murder the subjects of his photos every now and again, as we see from one of the beginning scenes. But hey, he seems like a nice enough guy otherwise. I mean, the other folks in the neighborhood seem to think so anyway.
However, Karter is going through it, and he seems to think that it’s time to unalive himself. He even cleans up and dresses fancy for the hanging event. Just as he goes through it and steps off the chair, there’s a frantic knock at the door downstairs. He rushes to get himself out of the noose before it’s too late…literally…and goes downstairs to see who’s making all the noise.
Once he opens the door, he finds a smiling young woman who tells him she’s made a long trip to come have her photos taken by him, although she doesn’t have an appointment. She introduces herself as Lucy Hill (Simone Stadler) and tells Karter that she’s a big fan of his work. Karter, still taken aback by her sudden appearance, tries to say no, but Lucy’s charming so he gives in and invites her inside.
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Lucy seems off, but that’s just because she’s Southern (relax, I’m kidding!). Perhaps the Devil came up from Georgia for a while? Anyway, things go downhill once the photo shoot gets started, and they get even worse from there. We learn that Lucy isn’t who or what she initially presented as. And through several flashbacks and illusions shown throughout the film. We also see why Karter is the way he is and why he wants to kill himself. Essentially, he’s being held hostage by the ghosts of his conscience and regret…and these ghosts have him trapped in his house and they’re terrorizing him.
That’s my takeaway, at least.
The Deserving is another one of those films where the story is neither clear nor concise. Plus, the addition of a non-verbal lead character doesn’t really help deliver a clear message. However, Gunda is fantastic in his role. The cinematography and effects are both great too.
Despite its confusing story, The Deserving is a dark and spooky tale that kept my attention. I feel it would have worked better as a short rather than a feature-length film. There just isn’t enough to flesh out the character of Karter. However, the premise is a fresh enough idea that the movie’s enjoyable regardless of its flaws. If you’d like to watch it for yourself, catch it while it’s currently streaming on Prime for $3.99.
