NEWTON World Cinema

In a jungle in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, 76 villagers who have never before voted in their country’s democratic elections receive a visit from Newton (rising Indian star Rajkummar Rao), the idealistic, officious election monitor determined to make their voices heard. Flanked by a troop of military escorts, Newton naïvely believes he can run the election in a clean and orderly fashion. However, the villagers have no motivation to vote — they’ve never heard of the candidates, and their participation could provoke a dangerous response from the Maoist guerrillas lurking in the region. Director Amit V Masurkar admirably grapples with the complexities and contradictions inherent in this democracy, blending humor and humanism with the aid of a uniformly excellent ensemble cast. – Mike Dougherty