‘Half’ Review: Fun Bloody Indian Revenge Thriller Fueled With Fangs and Fury
During the 2020s, I wanted to sink my fangs into more Indian action flicks because they’ve been offering some of the finest, blistering genre-theater experiences I’ve had in ages. The TIFF 2023 Midnight Madness flick Kill was like Double Dragon meets The Raid on a train, and it was exhilarating. Programmed at TIFF 2026 under the Midnight Madness Section (though I screened it at Fantastic Fest 2026) is Half, a Raid-esque variant, but make it a curry revenge western about half-blooded vampire twins. Just when I thought Sinners gave me enough hot vampire noise, India delivered the great “hot vampires in genre-bending stories” representation that is always welcome in modern cinema.
This Malayalam-language actioner from director Samjad has everything I adore in an action film, from a killer soundtrack with Edgar Wright sensibilities to kinetic, well-directed, high-octane martial arts action, wherein salt-of-the-earth criminals get their shit rocked. It’s one of those movies you watch and know that Lionsgate — which released Kill and this year’s The Furious — will try to pick up and probably do nothing with, but word of mouth from action connoisseurs will prop it up as a sleeper hit. It’s a one-track flick with little characterization or explanation of its supernatural elements, but that doesn’t negate the absolute blast it was from start to finish.
MPA Rating: N/A
Runtime: 1 Hour and 36 Minutes
Language: Malayalam, Hindi, English, Telugu, Tamil
Production Companies: Fragrant Nature Film Creations
Distributor: N/A
Director: Samjad
Screenwriters: Samjad, Praveen Viswanath
Cast: Ranjith Sajeev, Aiswarya Raj, Amala Paul, Abbas, Srikant Murali
U.S Release Date: TBA
Twins Ethan (Ranjith Sajeev) and Ivy (Aiswarya Raj) reunite for a road trip across the Rajasthan desert to get her to her job in a war zone. But on their way, their car is sent flying by cold-blooded, murderous bandits. Assuming she’s dead, one bandit violates Ivy’s “corpse” with a disgusting, degrading action he derives sexual pleasure from. Ethan watches with horror and fury before a guy pounds his skull in with a hammer. However, come nightfall, their fatal injuries heal instantly, and their abilities are heightened as half-blooded vampires. Pissed AF, they embark on a revenge quest, hunting down and exacting bloody justice on each member of the syndicate.
Half turns the Rajasthan desert into a bloody action playground.
Half is as familiar as every revenge plot under the sun. Many of its influences are worn on its sleeves. The Sergio Leone-like western music cues feature moments of heavy rock that shape an apocalyptic look of the Rajasthan desert roads akin to how the Australian desert is presented in the Mad Max movies. In terms of prose, Half’s hyper-violence on the tortured innocents is excessive in its cruelty; a producer mentioned how she had to draw the line on what was originally a sexual assault scene because they didn’t want to cross that boundary, yet the discomfort from the more “tame” final product is still palpable.
Nevertheless, when Ethan and Ivy return from the grave and go hunting, each scene erupts with overly violent, gruesome, no-holds-barred action. The Raid’s Very Tri Yulisman served as choreographer, which says enough about the high-quality, exhilarating action sequences. Samjad impresses with a near-seamless combination of sweeping camera movements in traditional staging and blocking across the twins’ action combat with handheld camerawork that maintains a strong sense of control, neatly tracking each movement.
Half’s vampires are hot, violent, and frustratingly underwritten.
Given that they’re quasi-immortal, Half devolves into a repetitive function. It’s not that I necessarily found myself bored. However, the script (penned by Praveen Viswanath and Samjad) is completely devoid of characterization, traits that propel the characters forward, or an emotional element to make their violent quest some real gratifying triumph.
The same goes for their supernatural abilities, as Ethan and Ivy resemble mutants more than they do vampires. There’s no real discernible reason for the two to be half-blooded vampires, as they leave much to be desired about the supernatural element. Hell, they’re essentially Wolverine with Ethan’s animalistic combat, while Ivy, a mute character, screeches to express her anger and pain. The most common vampiric trait they share is being extremely attractive with their fierce scowls and cool sunglasses. They have no definitive reason for wearing them, but they’re so hot that I would thank them if they minced my guts into mush.
As cool as they are, there’s a gender imbalance in its depiction of violence that leaves Ivy in the dust. I wish she had as much of a badass showcase as her brother. There are more scenes of her being tortured graphically, getting a worse end of the stick than her brother. It’s annoying considering how small her kill count is compared to her brother’s, and how “meh” her fatalities are.
As characteristically hollow as it seems, Half thrives on being a frenetic, fun, turn-your-brain-off bloody action spectacle. Though it leaves one thirsty for depth in places where excess cruelty could’ve been reduced, it’s a genuinely entertaining scorched-earth revenge genre-bender with good fangs.
