Leeds International Film Festival 2024 – Sister Midnight ★★★

Released: 14 March 2025

Director: Karan Kandhari

Starring: Radhika Apte, Ashok Pathak

Karan Kandhari’s latest project, Sister Midnight, is a genre-bending visual spectacle; merging unexpected elements of stop-motion animation with vibrant imagery of Indian life. Giving very little away with both trailer and synopsis, Kandhari leaves very little trace of his plot before viewers enter the cinema. Although visually stunning and undeniably captivating, Sister Midnight’s storyline leaves a lot to be desired with some half-baked explorations of promising themes for the sake of a marvellously punk showcase of scenes.

Following the recent arranged marriage of Uma and Gopal (played by Radhika Apte and Ashok Pathak respectively), both they and their neighbours begin to realise the strange pairing they make. Apte performs Uma as a more-than-eccentric witchy individual who cannot be tamed, whereas Pathak presents Gopal as a sort of non-husband: he doesn’t talk to Uma much and he is scared of physical touch.

It’s clear that Uma is not interested in Gopal and is rather unimpressed by her current situation’s loneliness and boredom, so finds a friend in her neighbour Sheetal, played by Chhaya Kadam. The film’s best moments arise from the witty stichomythia between the pair. Occasionally offering more thoughtful musings on the purpose of a husband and wife, or the complicity of women in maintaining misogynistic standards in South Asian culture.

As the film progresses, Uma truly becomes a woman of the night as it is revealed that her afflictions of the day can only be solved by engaging in very Gothic, vampiric activities: involving blood, animals and quite comically queasy scenes. If anything, these scenes are the backbone of the film’s quirkiness in the second half, but it would have been great to see its comic elements replaced with a bit more seriousness.

The characterisation of both partners in the first twenty minutes was the highlight of the film: a combination of slapstick, surrealism and silliness helps Kandhari set the tone of Sister Midnight. It is when the surrealism loses its silliness that the themes of femininity and sanity become too diluted into a melting pot of witchcraft and the supernatural. Quite frankly, it feels like a vampire film by the end and I think that’s a discredit to the first hour of the film with its comedic timing and subtle messaging on marriages. Kandhari is clearly talented in his direction with a mixture of clever framing and zooms that feel very Fantastic Mr Fox of him.

Overall, Sister Midnight is an excellent testament to what can be achieved within the settings of South Asian culture and should be used as an example in how to break creative boundaries on-screen. What Apte, Pathak and Kadam bring to the project makes up for the loose stylistic ends that Kandhari’s vision leaves us with. Although I have to say, it’ll probably be a while before we’ll see a supernatural South Asian comedy on our screens again, so I’m thankful to Kandhari nonetheless.