7/10 (IMDB)

Santosh

2h 07m Crime | Drama | Thriller

Santosh

Ripped from her life of domesticity, Santosh, a young widow now desperate to support herself, accepts an opportunity to inherit her husband’s job as a police officer in the rural badlands of India.

Quickly taken under the wing of Sharma, a charismatic and commanding older female inspector, Santosh begins an investigation into a low-caste girl’s brutal murder that plunges her into a gritty world of crime and corruption.

Director

Sandhya Suri

Cast

Shahana Goswami, Sunita Rajwar, Pratibha Awasthy

Rating

R

Year

2025

Country

United Kingdom, Germany, India, France

Language

Hindi


Main Trailer


Reviews

  • "Suri’s film is full of non-actors who excel at being themselves in front of the camera, the result so eminently watchable because it feels so remarkably like the real India."
    - indieWire
  • "This assured sense of direction coupled with controlled performances make Santosh a compelling drama. But it’s Suri’s screenplay that renders the film immersive."
    - TheWrap
  • "Caste and religion and class and gender are all part of this system, and that’s the broader critique in “Santosh,” which is quite furious by the end."
    - New York Times
  • "It’s a terrific feature debut from British-Indian documentary filmmaker Sandhya Suri – a propulsive neo-noir that holds up a mirror to contemporary India."
    - Screen Daily
  • "To watch SANTOSH is to feel the undeniable power of a discerning, resonant case study."
    - Los Angeles Times
  • "An indelible portrait of a woman embracing power for the first time only to face disillusionment of the worst kind."
    - Reeling Reviews
  • "If ‘Training Day with more grey areas’ sounds dull, it’s anything but."
    - Time Out
  • "The treatment is stark, unflinching, fearless, and makes it stand out..."
    - The Indian Express

Awards

  • British Independent Film Awards
  • Jerusalem Film Festival
  • Seville European Film Festival

Festivals

  • Cannes Film Festival
  • Toronto Int'l Film Festival
  • Busan Int'l Film Festival
  • Karlovy Vary Int'l Film Festival
  • Thessaloniki Int'l Film Festival
  • Rio de Janeiro Int'l Film Festival
  • Philadelphia Int'l Film Festival
  • Chicago Int'l Film Festival
  • Camerimage Int'l Film Festival
  • Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival
  • BFI London Film Festival
  • and more...