NETFLIX FILM REVIEW: BARAMULLA (2025)

SUYASH PACHAURI
12 minutes ago
5 min read

Baramulla Film Review By

Suyash Pachauri

Founder

[GLOBAL BOLLYWOOD] •

[DIRECTOR’S DAILY CLAPBOARD]

INTRODUCTION

“Sometimes the horror outside is easier to face than the ghosts within.”

With this thought, Baramulla enters Netflix’s thriller space like a cold gust rising from the snow-clad Kashmir valley. Directed and written by National Award winning filmmaker Aditya Suhas Jambhale, and produced by Aditya Dhar & Lokesh Dhar, Baramulla combines supernatural horror, police investigation, and an emotionally charged human drama rooted in the socio-political history of Kashmir.

Starring Manav Kaul in one of his most intense roles yet DSP Ridwaan Shafi Sayyed, a police officer investigating a disturbing pattern of missing children cases the film promises more than just horror jumps. It layers grief, guilt, folklore, trauma, and the silent terror that lives in places scarred by history.

From the opening scene itself, the film establishes a tone that is…eerie, unsettling, and visually poetic, yet, grounded in real emotional conflicts. The real horror in Baramulla isn’t the ghostly presence lurking in the shadows it’s the haunting silence of a place that has seen more than it can ever speak.

Netflix markets the film as a supernatural thriller, but that term barely scratches the surface. This film is: part horror, part investigation, part socio-psychological narrative on trauma, and part metaphoric storytelling about what happens when history refuses to stay buried. For a genre Indian cinema rarely explores with authenticity atmospheric horror…Baramulla emerges refreshingly original.

SCREENPLAY & SCRIPT SENSE

Written by Aditya Suhas Jambhale, the screenplay never tries to spoon-feed. Instead, it respects the audience’s intelligence slowly teasing threads, revealing clues, and allowing mystery to build organically.

Surface Layer Police-procedural investigation Missing children, suspect leads, local fear & silence Psychological LayerSupernatural fear & folklore Haunting visions, footsteps, voices, the unknown Emotional & Symbolic Layer…History & trauma Cultural wounds, generational fear, memory, loss This layered narrative is what gives Baramulla its depth.

ACTING

Manav Kaul as DSP Ridwaan Shafi Sayyed (Lead)

Manav Kaul delivers one of the strongest performances of his career. He portrays Ridwaan not as a heroic cop but as a flawed, frightened, emotionally burdened father and husband caught between duty and personal trauma. His micro expressions during silent horror sequences, the emotional breakdowns during the missing children case, and the helplessness of a father scared for his own kids are gripping and painfully real.

Bhasha Sumbli as Gulnaar Sayyed (Ridwaan’s Wife) Bhasha (of The Kashmir Files) brings vulnerability and strength in equal measure.

Her performance grounds the emotional center of the film. She represents the emotional horrora mother in a haunted house, fearing for her children while battling unseen fear.

Arista Mehta as Noorie Sayyed (Daughter)

Arista delivers innocence and maturity far beyond her age. Her reactions aren’t exaggerated or “child actorish”; instead, she feels real, scared, and believable. Her connection to the supernatural events is one of the film’s strongest emotional threads.

Rohaan Singh as Ayaan Sayyed (Son)

Rohaan plays the younger child who becomes emotionally attached to the eerie environment around them. His stillness and confusion during tense sequences add depth to the family dynamic.

Neelofar Hamid

Neelofar represents the locals’ unspoken fear. She rarely raises her voice, but her silence, layered with trauma and backstory, amplifies the tension.

Masoom Mumtaz Khan

Plays a key character connected to the folklore/supernatural thread. He brings authenticity and a sense of old-world mystery to his scenes.

Kiara Khanna

Young, emotional, expressive. She adds innocence to the eerie energy of the film, showing fear without melodrama.

Ashwini Koul

Plays a supporting character connected either to police or investigation (depending on final plot). Adds confidence and pace to procedural scenes.

CHARACTER WRITING

DSP Ridwaan Sayyed is not a typical macho officer. His arc battles: helplessness, vulnerability and the fear of failing his family while saving others. His wife Gulnaar (Bhasha Sumbli) adds emotional gravity. Her maternal anxiety brings realism to the horror…viewers feel her fear, not just see it. The children, particularly Noorie, are written with innocence that sharpens the tragedy. Every scene in their abandoned colonial house adds another psychological twist.

Dialogue Writing

The dialogues are minimalistic precise, unexaggerated, and spoken like real people under stress. The silence becomes a character.

Symbolism & Metaphors

The film frequently uses symbols: White tulips symbolize silent suffering beautiful yet born in harsh winter…The colonial-era house reflects buried secrets…Mist and fog represent blurred reality…The screenplay excels in not explaining everything. It allows the horror to breathe.

DIRECTION

Aditya Suhas Jambhale executes Baramulla with a rare control over tension and pacing. His direction displays heavy influence from:

[The Haunting of Hill House] and -[The Haunting of Bly Manor] …yet remains uniquely rooted in Indian cultural texture. Jambhale never rushes into horror. Instead, he builds dread slowly and atmospherically, letting the audience discover the horror instead of being told. The house becomes a living organism. Windows creak. Doors breathe. Shadows shift. This isn’t jump scare horror…it’s psychological dread.

Directorial Wins

Stays loyal to Kashmir’s emotional truth without exploiting traum…Extracts career-best performances from Manav Kaul and Bhasha Sumbli…Balances realism with supernatural elements.

Balance of Horror & Emotion

What separates Baramulla from typical horror films is that every scare has emotional consequence. When supernatural elements appear, they impact character decisions, not just audience nerves. Jambhale’s direction is bold, confident, and deeply human

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The cinematography is one of the strongest aspects of Baramulla. Arnold Fernandes treats Kashmir not as a backdrop, but as a character beautiful, dangerous, unpredictable.

Elements captured brilliantly:

Snow filled landscapes that feel serene yet suffocating.
Long corridor shots inside the colonial house evoking old-world fear.
Candle lit nighttime scenes that create flickering uncertainty.

The camera movements are fluid and purposeful…Slow tracking shots create tension. Static wide frames build atmospheric unease…He uses lighting masterfully: Shadows narrate more than the actors do….Night sequences play with light vs. void, hinting that horror lingers where clarity ends. Several shots are visually award worthy…Ridwaan standing alone against a vast snowy field. The first apparition seen reflected in a glass pane. The final climax inside the abandoned church. This is a film that can be paused at any point, and the frame resembles a photograph.

MUSIC & BACKGROUND SCORE

Susmit Limaye’s score shapes the film’s personality. Instead of loud shock music, the score is: minimal, atmospheric, hauntingly melodic. The soundtrack uses: Kashmiri folk-inspired vocal chants, low-frequency bass rumbles, and distressed string arrangements. The silence in several scenes is used like a weapon forcing viewers to anticipate the next moment. When music does enter, it feels like an emotional undercurrent instead of manipulation.

EDITING

Praveen Kathikaneni’s editing maintains tight narrative grip without overwhelming viewers. The pacing is intentionally slow in the first act allowing: emotional stakes to build, the house to become familiar, suspense to nest under the viewer’s skin.vThe second and third acts accelerate: quick-cuts during investigation sequences, longer shots during emotional breakdowns. Flashbacks are used sparingly and tastefully. No scene feels unnecessary. A standout editing technique: Cuts from real moments to hallucinations without transitions, making the audience question reality the same way Ridwaan does.

FINAL VERDICT

Baramulla is unmissable.

Baramulla is not just a horror movie

It is an emotional investigation of trauma wrapped in supernatural dread.

Where most horror films chase jump scares, Baramulla chases truth, memory, and pain. Where most thrillers end on revelation, Baramulla ends on realization. Netflix finally delivers a film that understands

“Fear is not in what we see.

Fear is in what we believe.”

If you appreciate mature cinema with: atmospheric dread, intelligent writing, layered characters, and emotionally grounded horror…

ON THE PLUS SIDE

• Manav Kaul’s best performance till date.

• Intelligent and layered screenplay.

• Visuals & cinematography that feel poetic.

• Score that enhances emotion instead of manipulating.

• Balanced horror psychological , supernatural.

• Kashmir is depicted respectfully real, not exaggerated.

ON THE MINUS SIDE

• Slow pacing may not appeal to commercial horror lovers.