A wish for immortality probably lies latent in the minds of many. It is a wish that becomes reality for the protagonists of Shalini Ushadevi’s film Ennennum (Now and Forever), being screened in the Malayalam Cinema Today section at the 28th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK). But, rather than the immense possibilities of immortality, the director here is concerned with how the experiments change the texture of the relationship between the couple.
Ouso (Anoop Mohandas) and Devi (Santhy) sign up with a company that has developed an expensive technology which promises immortality. The couple have three days to experiment with the technology, after which they have no option of going back. But, things really do not turn out the way they expect them to. The storyline immediately brings to mind the many scary ideas that were explored in the dystopian science fiction series Black Mirror, and Shalini charts a path of her own in writing a film around such an idea.
Along with the couple, the audience is also caught in this strange atmosphere accentuated by the peculiar architecture of the house that they live in. For those concerned about surveillance and related issues, it would be a nightmare to live in a house with an expansive glass roof from which anyone can peer down. Much of the events in the film happens within the house. The orchards near the house are the farthest that the characters venture out into.
