r/bhutan

Rating: 4/10

lowkey i really wanted this movie to not disappoint and was also kinda was expecting it might not match expectations since it got so hyped. first off i'll start wiht the good parts:

1. The cinematography and the CGI didnt disappoint. The first first trailer looked and felt like very AI (especially the signature soft glow and lack of detail that ai art produces) however the actual moview na lu the cgi doesnt look like AI generated at all. The CGI is really good and if they did use AI i cant make it out at all ( I think whoever created the first trailer really likes to use the chinese filter of softening).
2. The makeup is pretty good.
3. Nidup Dorji ( dude is the only guy who lowkey saved the film a bit) His character is also a wildcard but its just this dudes delivery and acting man. Im so amazed that he takes on really different roles and is able to deliver them all really well ( The king in puendarika, and a gomchen in this one )

NOWW all the bad parts.

First and the most important thing the fucking plot bro. the plot is so damn stupidd. there literally is zero thought into this and its so simple: okay the initial link of zombies tied to the mermaid deity is creative but thats about it. >!other than that the zombies chase them across different rooms and then they suddenly make it free after a last final battle with the boss. !<man with this plot it really could've just been a short film but i wasted 2 hours on it.

Second theres too many characters, it feels like all the influencers and known actors got put into this and eveyrone of them gets alloted a little screen time that at the end theres no space at all for any character development in any of them. A lotta the actors share a lotta screen time but overall speak like 3 dialogues through out the movie. Like kaya, tsheki, phuntsho kinrab, all say like about 5-10 lines and thats it. I get okay that including influencers in it is going to make your film big but woww do you really have to go to this extent.

Also on that note i think there are influencers who can act and who still need a bit of training yknow. and im not gonna name names but you can see that very clearly in the movie. The difference between the seasoned actors and the ones that come outta the blue but share a significant role along side the main ones. Like sangay tshultrim, deki lhamo, nidup dorji, anna sharma they're really good at what they do. But when you contrast that with the screen time some of the other actors get its like the difference becomes so obvious you kinda dont like it.

The nepali guys english really throws me off and also all the english parts throw me off as well. Like sounds like white english pandering saying this but the accent from sangay tshultrim and the other nepali guy makes it hard to enjoy for me. I dont get why if they were nepali, why they just coudlnt have had all of them speak nepali to each other yknow. Anna sharma her parts though are honestly fine.

There is literally zero character development in this movie even the main actor himself. theres certain loopholes >!like how does sangay tshultrim suddenly know that gunda boss is weak near the portal!<. I feel like if the script writer asked chatgpt to make it more interesting it would have done a way better job.

I dont know how much creative freedom DD kinley had but i think he also directed/wrote sheindrey and its looking like his films maybe need more work on the plot.

Overall im glad they didnt air it in nepal yet and honestly hope they dont, i dont want this to be the first export (know its said as joint partnership but this is all based in bhutan and the only nepali partnership i see is 4 actors from nepal and behind the scenes stuff) so it really does feel like a bhutan export. This is not the best work we have produced and i feel like it would ruin bhutanese movie reputation in nepal.

Overall was a waste of 2 hours but hey the new cinema KC Cinemax is really good and clean (for now atleast) and theyre also airing Avengers Doomsday soon.

Lastly before anyone comments "This is why i dont watch bhutanese movies/ bhutanse movies are all ass they follow same plot boy love girl" or any other arrogant comments without even having watched 4 new bhutanse movies in the past year you dont get to say shit. Cause the industry is really trying new things and its also working. CGI is a lot better already plots aren't always boy love girl ( take Keta LCA, Drukpas Heart, which were all good watches tbh). And even if it is that, case in point puendarika it is still enjoyable. So dont say shit without even having watched any of these please.

Tunnel 26 is ass but dont extend it to the whole drubi movie scene.

Idk these were my thoughts, thoughts from anyone who watched it?

They try to put some form of small romance, camarederie, love stories and context of like 8-9 people its just doing too much

Recently I've seen this video of how unfair it is that the ppl who raped a kid got a sorry excuse of a sentence to which bhutanese were standing up for it. Now it's all well and good that Bhutanese are raising awareness and seeking justice and also not taking away this I've noticed in the partiality of the treatment of 🍇pists, specially by the so called influencers...now we all know how they are in these situations, same situation but they uplift another and put down someone else. A particular rinpoche comes in mind. He assaulted many women and got exiled out of a country but Bhutan has accepted him giving him a platform. He.also.raped.many.women.
So don't pick and choose who to put down and who to lift up.

I'm going to say something that a lot of people probably won't like.

Bhutan has built a very strong image around Buddhism, happiness, tradition and Gross National Happiness. That's fine. But sometimes it feels like we're so obsessed with protecting that image that we don't want to acknowledge the very real problems underneath it. The recent case where six men convicted of raping a minor were sentenced to nine years each genuinely pissed me off. And then you look at cases involving vandalism of religious objects and see serious criminal consequences for damaging property. I'm not saying religious sites shouldn't be protected. They should. But when did damaging an object become something we're more comfortable getting outraged about than destroying a person's sense of safety and potentially affecting their entire life?

A chorten can be repaired.

A statue can be replaced.

A building can be rebuilt.

What happened to a victim of serious sexual violence cannot simply be repaired with a new coat of paint.

And this goes beyond religion. There is a deeply rooted attitude in Bhutan that wealth, status, connections and titles somehow make someone's time more valuable than everyone else's. Someone important gets priority. Someone with connections gets things done faster. Someone ordinary waits. I'm tired of the idea that questioning these things somehow means you hate Bhutan, hate Buddhism, or don't respect our culture.

Tradition is not an argument.

Religion is not an argument.

“That's how we've always done it” is definitely not an argument.

If our laws or institutions produce outcomes that don't make sense in modern Bhutan, then we should be willing to change them. That's what laws are for. Bhutan doesn't need to pretend that it is some perfectly peaceful Buddhist utopia. It needs to be willing to admit where it falls short and actually fix those problems. Because if we're too afraid to criticize our own country, then all we're really protecting is the image of it.