Bramayugam

Description

Bramayugam translates from Malayalam as “The Age of Madness”. A time when the gods abandoned the earth and humanity was left to its own devices. Fear, panic, and chaos engulfed the planet. Thus began the age of madness.

The plot of Bramayugam can be summed up in one sentence: out of the frying pan and into the fire, or from one kind of slavery into another.
An exhausted fugitive, a former slave seeking freedom, stumbles upon a once-grand, seemingly abandoned mansion deep in the woods. Its kindly owner offers him food and shelter. And, incidentally, new chains.

Bramayugam is a stylish, black-and-white Indian auteur horror. Before this, I’d only watched mainstream Indian horror films. And I liked almost all of them.

I didn’t know what to expect from this black-and-white film, and I was pleasantly surprised by its atmosphere, plot, and score. The sound design here is straight-up brilliant and completely atypical for Indian cinema.
The folklore is Indian, but the audio feels like it belongs to the best modern horror films. An unusual and brilliant combination.

I always pay close attention to sound in movies. When done right, it amplifies the atmosphere, builds dread, and presses on your psyche. But in my experience, in most films you barely notice the sound. It doesn’t stand out—it just sits in the background and does its job.

I can’t help but recall two of the most original soundtracks I’ve ever heard. Doctor Sleep is a phenomenal film, I absolutely love it (I highly recommend the three-hour cut). The entire score is built around a heartbeat. During my first watch, that sound design really hooked me.

The second example is pure madness: dog barking and some Japanese string instrument play in unison throughout Little Joe. By the middle of the film, I was just freaking out over the constant barking haha. In my opinion, they overdid it with the dogs—there’s just too much of it. So, that’s more of a negative example.

What about Bramayugam? I highly recommend it. Especially if you love stylish visuals and stories set in isolated spaces you can’t escape from.