Welcome to the Blumhouse: Evil Eye (2020)

Rating: ⭐⭐½  

A young attractive Indian girl staying alone in New Orleans is pressured to get a boyfriend and marry by her conservative and superstitious mother from India in this seemingly straightforward tale of romance sprinkled with a generous dose of Indian culture. Things get a bit dicey when said mother gets suspicious of her daughter's too good to be true new boyfriend as she conjures images of him being some sort of reincarnation of a previous abusive lover of hers.

As I said the story is straightforward but happily what makes this far more watchable than it should rightfully be is its refreshing approach of telling the story from the point of view of an Indian family and the inevitable cultural potpourri that goes along with this. The setting may be in America, but the main characters are all Indian immigrants. The contrasting cultural values between the modern American way of life and the traditional values which are still religiously followed back home in India offers lots of amusing dialogue between the generations. It is interesting to note that much of the conversations and relationship between daughter and parents are done through the handphone as is what is happening in the real world today. What eventually sets the film back is its inevitable conclusion. Indeed the film's final act which is a foregone conclusion, seems a bit out of place in what could have been an enjoyable easy going romantic comedy with a happily ever after ending. Kudos to the cast of Indian actors for bringing the colourful culture and values alive sans having to deal with some crazy tale of reincarnation and the "evil eye". A charming cast, a witty script ..too bad about the ending though.