Freedom movie plot:

When Sri Lankan refugees seek shelter in Tamil Nadu camps, the infamous Rajiv Gandhi assassination takes place, leaving many of them being suspected for the high-profile crime. After a bunch of refugees, including Maaran (Sasikumar) are held captive at the Vellore Fort for further investigation, they are subjected to brutal harassment and torture by the hands of Tamil Nadu police. It is at this time, Maaran along with others try to escape the fort by digging a tunnel from within their cell. Do they succeed? Freedom is based on true events.

Freedom movie review:

In what was a turmoil period nationwide in the aftermath the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, Sri Lankan refugees suspected of crime, were held captive for investigation at the Vellore Fort. The place which even now stands as the site which birthed the first revolt against Britishers for Indian Independence, in 1806. Vellore Fort is also that very same place where even the greatest like Tipu Sultan was held captive by the colonisers. So, the concept of freedom is not new to its walls that stand tall and high even today. In Sathyasiva’s film, the fort multiplies itself as a place of both torture and escape for Sri Lankan refugees. But the curtain walls stand as a barrier for the story that seem to lack redemption after showing the raw agony of the oppressed stripped off emotions, for the sake of visual narrative.

The Tamil Nadu police have detained Maaran for questioning. When his wife Selvi (Lijomol Jose) is expecting, he departs the camp, and as his daughter grows older, she becomes aware of her father's absence over the course of several years. At the Vellore Form, the investigation chambers' walls exude cruelty and oppression, and we are given a glimpse of how a non-Tamil inspector is put in charge since a Tamil inspector may have shared linguistic sentimentality and perhaps be a little more humane? However, Freedom is not clear on what message it wishes to convey. The story is about how the refugees are attempting to plan their own escape, which is brought about by sequences and episodes of depicting brutality and exploiting the traumatic events through images of physical torture. The plot reverts to basics as soon as the movie starts to go into the survival thriller genre, with a lack of emphasis on the execution.

For it is a tale of human fortitude and resilience, freedom is dependent on the original material, and that's okay. However, the picture would have been lot more entertaining if it had only focused on winning some sympathy for its characters in the process. In this instance, the slow start to the narrative, specifically how the refugees depend on one another to create an escape route, is pushed far later into the film, leaving the episode lacking the room it merits in the story. Furthermore, it's unfortunate that a talented performer like Lijomol has little room in the film. As evidenced by the characters' inability to overcome their one-dimensionality, such as that of Sudev Nair, who plays a cruel Malayali cop and whose only known characteristic is that, or Malavika Avinash's Nirmala, the lawyer who advocates for the refugees' rights but seems to be just as helpless as the inmates themselves, it doesn't just restrict with her. Because it lacks compelling storytelling, authenticity, and a compelling narrative, freedom is perplexed by things that are unrelated to the movie.

The movie's verdict on freedom:

Freedom is supposed to be a story that may not have been on people’s memory or radar for long, but definitely one that belonged to big screen adaptation. But the film with little to less understanding on its gravitas, missteps into a wrong genre that did not warrant an overdose of physical torture onscreen, but an empathetic portrayal of a story less told. Freedom makes little to no impact with its forced storytelling, unimpactful characterisations, thus making it a forgettable film on an important incident.

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