This film dismantles toxic masculinity and shows the impact of it on everyday lives. The film revolves around a young man called ,,Shutu", who joined his cousin to a huge family gathering in McCluskieganj. Arriving there he encounters his other cousins and him being of a more sensible and calm nature is targeted by them and being mocked of. They play tricks on him, freightening him, well aware, that he gets scared easily. Shutu also struggles with mental health issues after losing his father two years ago, he never processed this loss, still grieving for him and as a result failing his final exams( which he hides before everyone ). Especially one cousin stands out with narcisstic, machoistic and violent behaviour, even hitting him in the game of kabbadi. But the others including the women, do not interfere much, eventhough one time the wife of shutus cousin questioned the ill treatment of shutu through the toxic men .He gets more and more isolated, hurt in his feelings and shamed by the rest of their family. After a crucial experience in the woods, where he was left alone in a pit forgotten by the others after searching for the missing daughter of his cousin, something inside him breaks. He turns his pain& sorrow against himself, which is shown in the climax of this movie.
The movie depicts perfectly toxic masculine behaviour, and how it destroys the obvious more ,,weak" (aka sensible, or ones with mental health issues )people in the society. And it doesnt matter if it comes from fellow men or women who have internalised this kind of thinking and pass it on to their children. An amazing social commentary i really enjoyed watching!
Review of A Death in the Gunj
