SISTER MIDNIGHT After Dark

Screening to be followed by a conversation with director and writer Karan Kandhari.

Karan Kandhari’s audacious horror-comedy boasts an impressive performance from lead Radhika Apte, who dazzles and delights with deadpan affect, dexterous physical comedy bits and a blue streak of creative cursing. Uma (Apte) arrives in Mumbai by train from her home village following her arranged marriage to the painfully shy Gopal (Ashok Pathak). Uma’s disappointing married life begins with the couple’s unconsummated wedding night and continues with their awkward dynamic at home together. When Gopal goes to work, Uma is cooped up in their dreary rowhouse, utterly indifferent to her domestic duties. After taking a job as a cleaner working the night shift, Uma starts living a nocturnal existence, exploring the city by night and charting a new path for herself. But mysteriously, Uma starts to develop strange new cravings…could she be becoming a full-fledged creature of the night? Kandhari’s work devises fresh quirks and curveballs aplenty, all showcased around the talented Apte’s charismatic comedic performance. –Todd Hitchcock