Evil Eye is a movie about generational trauma, reincarnation, and red flags the size of a Bollywood dance number… and yet somehow it still manages to be mostly about people having long, tense phone calls in well-lit apartments.
If you’ve ever thought, “What if Get Out but with less tension, more Skype, and a villain whose big power move is buying earrings?”—congratulations, this one’s for you.
Plot Twist: The Scariest Thing Is the Wi-Fi Plan
We start with Pallavi (Sunita Mani), a 29-year-old aspiring writer living in New Orleans, whose greatest horror isn’t monsters or ghosts, but her mother’s constant “So when are you getting married?” pressure from Delhi.
Her mom, Usha (Sarita Choudhury), is obsessed with Vedic astrology, arranged dates, and controlling her daughter’s life from another continent using the deadliest tool of all: emotional guilt plus WhatsApp. She keeps sending Pallavi to meet men who sound like LinkedIn profiles: stable, suitable, boring.
But then, after one guy stands her up, Pallavi meets Sandeep (Omar Maskati)—a handsome, rich, charming Indian man who’s soft-spoken, well-mannered, and deeply unsettling in that “I’m being too perfect because the script told me to” way. He has a tragic backstory (ex tried to commit suicide! But he’s still so noble!), a great job, and the emotional range of a nicely ironed napkin.
Usha hears about him and instantly goes:
“Hmm, seems suspicious. Looks like my violently abusive ex who died the night you were born has respawned as your boyfriend.”
Does she base this on solid evidence? No. Does the movie treat her gut feeling like a full forensic report? Yes.
Gaslighting, But Make It Boring
As Sandeep starts love-bombing Pallavi—rent money, new apartment, “quit your job to write, babe, I’ll pay”—Usha gets increasingly convinced he’s the reincarnation of the guy who tried to kill her while she was pregnant.
To be fair, that guy pushed her around, stalked her, and attacked her on a bridge.
Sandeep’s crimes include:
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Giving jewelry she “just doesn’t vibe with”
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Clenching his hands suspiciously
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Being very intense about commitment
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Having a string of exes who won’t talk about him (which is honestly the one actually alarming detail)
Usha hires a private investigator who does what all movie private investigators do: appears once, says “Something’s off,” and disappears back into the budget.
Everyone tells Usha she’s being paranoid. Pallavi accuses her of projecting her past trauma. Her husband Krishnan gently suggests therapy that isn’t astrology-based. But Usha doubles down with the unshakable confidence of a mom who has never once admitted she was wrong in any argument, ever.
And because this is a horror movie—not real life—she turns out to be 100% correct.
Reincarnation: Because Therapy Would’ve Been Too Easy
Eventually, the movie just gives up on mystery and has Sandeep literally call Usha to say:
“Hi Auntie, long time no see! Yes, I am the reincarnation of your abusive ex-boyfriend. No, I didn’t die a hero, thanks for asking. Anyway, get on a plane and come to America so we can finish this toxic relationship arc.”
Subtlety is dead and reincarnated as exposition.
From here, the film could have gone full supernatural horror—visions, hauntings, twisted fates, cosmically cursed bloodlines—but instead it mostly goes with:
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More phone calls
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Mildly tense dinners
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Earrings as metaphysical evidence
Usha comes to the U.S., meets Sandeep, and he basically says, “I want what I’ve always wanted: you,” while also dangling Pallavi’s life over the metaphorical balcony. It’s creepy in concept, but in execution it feels like a Lifetime movie that accidentally wandered into a Blumhouse deal.
The Big Confrontation (Brought to You by Earrings)
The strongest scene in the movie should be the three-way confrontation: Usha, Pallavi, Sandeep at dinner. It’s all there:
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Usha trying to act normal while knowing she’s eating with her reincarnated stalker
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Sandeep trying not to monologue like a Bond villain
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Pallavi sensing something is deeply off
Usha reveals that the earrings Sandeep gave Pallavi are identical to the pair her ex gave her decades ago. Sandeep sees this and snaps like a cheap bangle.
He attacks Usha, and the film finally remembers it’s supposed to be horror. The two women fight him off, there’s violence, chaos—then we’re in the hospital, where we’re told Sandeep dies off-screen like the film ran out of time, money, or interest.
It’s hard to be terrified of your supposed immortal reincarnated soul-stalker when he’s dispatched with about the same intensity as a mid-level villain on NCIS.
The Final “Twist”
The movie tries one last time to get under your skin: as Sandeep is dead, Pallavi worries about the future. What about her daughters? What if the cycle repeats?
Cut to: a newborn baby. We’re meant to go, “Oh no… he might come back again!”
But the emotional punch just isn’t there. We’ve spent an entire film being told this is some huge cosmic karmic loop, but we’ve mostly seen a dude who gives earrings and gets really controlling about cohabitation. Terrible boyfriend? Definitely. Embodiment of ancient evil? Not totally selling it.
Imagine going through two lifetimes and your supervillain arc peaks at “emotionally manipulative fiancé with strong reincarnation game.”
Wasted Potential: The Real Curse
What makes Evil Eye so frustrating is that the concept is actually really strong:
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A controlling, abusive ex reincarnates as your daughter’s “perfect” boyfriend
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A mother’s trauma clashes with her daughter’s autonomy
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Cultural expectations (marriage, astrology, respect for elders) collide with modern independence
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Supernatural horror rooted in South Asian beliefs rather than generic Western possession tropes
Yet somehow, all of that gets flattened into:
“Mom was right about the guy” – The Movie
We barely see Sandeep’s supposed inner darkness beyond the generic signs of a controlling partner. There’s so much talk about destiny, karma, and evil, but almost no visual or tonal escalation to match it. No surreal imagery, no psychological unraveling, no sense that reality itself is bending under the weight of this spiritual battle.
Instead, we get endless repeat cycles of:
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Pallavi: “Mom, I like him.”
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Usha: “He’s evil, the stars told me.”
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Everyone: “Usha, please chill.”
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Usha: does not chill
Performances Trying to Save a Script That Won’t Save Itself
The real tragedy is that Sarita Choudhury is fantastic. She acts like she’s in a much better movie—a layered portrayal of a woman haunted by real trauma, cultural pressure, and legitimate fear. You can feel how much she carries in every scene.
Sunita Mani does solid work too, giving Pallavi real warmth and vulnerability. You buy that she loves her mother but also desperately wants to live her own life without being micromanaged by planetary alignment.
Omar Maskati does what he can as Sandeep, but the writing gives him “slightly off” more than “unearthly menace.” He’s less ancient curse and more “guy your friend warns you about in a group chat.”
It’s like the cast showed up ready to shoot an intense psychological-supernatural thriller, and the script showed up in sweatpants with a half-finished outline.
Final Verdict: Evil Eye… Mildly Annoyed Audience
Evil Eye had all the ingredients to be something genuinely fresh: South Asian cultural horror, generational trauma, reincarnation, and the horror of realizing your daughter is dating your abuser’s soul.
Instead, what we get is:
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A horror movie that’s weirdly allergic to being scary
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A supernatural setup that mostly leads to arguments and jewelry symbolism
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A reincarnated villain who feels like he should be handled by a good therapist, not karmic cosmic warfare
If you squint, you can see the sharper, braver movie this could have been. The one where reincarnation isn’t just a plot device, but a full-on exploration of cycles of abuse, patriarchy, and control, with imagery and dread to match.
Instead, Evil Eye ends up feeling like a very long, very intense warning from your mom about why you shouldn’t date men who seem “too perfect.” She’s not wrong… but after 90 minutes, you’re less scared and more tired.
The real curse wasn’t the reincarnated ex.
It was sitting through an entire Blumhouse movie where the scariest thing might honestly be those earrings.
