Regina Movie Review: Sunaina’s film is a complete yawn fest

Regina is a recent film that managed to pique the curiosity of the audiences, thanks to its brilliantly cut trailer. It gave us severe ‘Kill Bill’ vibes and how exciting is the idea of having a female-led revenge thriller on the same lines? Director Domin DSilva got a few things right and the trailer stands tall. However, the film, sadly, doesn’t stand up to the brilliantly cut trailer.

Regina (Sunaina) and Jo (Ananth Nag) are a happy couple, much in love. However, a robbery at Jo’s bank ends up killing him. She is distraught, shaken and shocked seeing her husband’s lifeless body. Regina’s activist father was also killed in an altercation when she was young. Now, with her husband gone, will Regina overcome the shock and find the will to lead her life? She leaves her home and escapes to Varkala, where she works at a beach-side restaurant with Julie (Rithu Mantra). Has Regina moved on? Or does she have some hidden secrets?

Meanwhile, Julie’s husband Arivu (Nivas Adithan) returns from prison, which pushes Regina to execute the plan that she had been plotting for a long time. What is her intention and how does she execute it forms the story?

Regina is a revenge film that has a predictable one-liner. What happens when a woman is wronged and decides to take revenge? With films like these, you cannot do much with the story. It all relies on the film’s making and how you present it. This is where Regina fell flat on its face. Director Domin DSilva’s screenplay is so haphazard that it makes you scratch your head at frequent intervals.

The film presents intriguing ideas throughout, but they are never fully fleshed out. For instance, there is a moment where Regina starts developing feelings for Julie. However, just when you expect the relationship to lead somewhere, it gets subverted by a clichéd turn of events. Similarly, when Regina takes the help of Arivu to accomplish her mission, his character is nowhere to be seen after some time.

Here's the trailer:

Regina gives the most abrupt endings to the characters. This is one of the reasons why the audiences are never able to fully invest themselves in it. On top of that, the film does not have the most logical approach to the killings. The logical loopholes are far too many to ignore.

Sunaina’s performance and her transformation do not attract our attention either. Her dialogue delivery is so off-putting and doesn’t match the intensity of the story. However, she has showcased the vulnerability of her character well in the film. Rithu Mantra’s character had ample scope to turn Regina into a solid thriller. However, it is absolutely wasted. Similarly, Nivas Adithan, Dheena and Gajaraj’s characters are given shallow treatment.

Music director Sathish Nair (who is also the producer) went overboard with his music and background score. From including Velu Nachiyar and Needhi Devathai (Lady Justice) in the lyrics and adding blaring music, he tried to enhance the feel of the film. But, it has backfired massively.

Regina is a perfect example of a decent script gone wasted due to a sluggish screenplay.

1.5 out of 5 stars for Regina.