Released digitally worldwide on October 1, 2024, through Entertainment Squad’s genre label The Horror Collective, The Deserving is a new Psychological Thriller with a ton of clout following it. To start with, being Director S.S. Arora’s feature debut, it has won fifteen awards at film festivals; including Best Feature at Athens IFF, Best Horror at Hallucinea FF, and awards at Humro Cinema, Portugal Indie Film Festival, and Rome Indie Film Festival. Rather impressive, The Deserving is more than a run-of-the-mill modern Horror film… because there are multiple layers to peel back here.
Grabbing your attention with unique storytelling and an offbeat protagonist, The Deserving follows Photographer Karter Sai (Venkat Sai Gunda) as he falls down a torturous trail of despair and guilt. Interrupted one day by an excited unknown super fan, his reality starts to be questioned when he realizes he is stuck in a loop of abuse and psychological turmoil. Simplifying it, he thinks he is becoming haunted by the victims whose lives he took.
A brief look into the plot, not only is The Deserving one of the few movies with a mute leading character, but it is also one of the few Horror movies that has shown domestic violence in a manner this graphic yet dramatic. With this all in mind, for those who sadly have experienced domestic violence, this is a movie that hits home. In some respects, it is a one-of-a-kind Thriller, but on the other side of reality, it is a story that is all too familiar.
It goes without question that a passion was put into The Deserving, and S.S. Arora ( does a great job of creating an unsettling mood. Amazing for his first feature film, Arora makes the audience feel for the characters at hand through the warmth and depth he helps show through the emotional sequences and vivid acting. Furthermore, the portrayal of Sai by up-and-coming Actor/Producer Venkat Sai Gunda is nothing less than breathtaking. Someone with a promising future, Gunda manages to show us that even with little words, one can be menacing and maniacal.
Understanding why The Deserving fared so well at film festivals, it is a must-watch, and Cryptic Rock gives it five out of five stars.
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