Directed by Zoya Akhtar, The Archies is undoubtedly a dream project made with immense love, care and loads of passion.
However, it doesn’t quite live up to the filmmaker’s brand of storytelling. It’s fresh and imaginative, but also dull. It’s subtle and breezy, but also soporific. It’s inspired, but also lackadaisical.
Adapted from the popular American comic book series Archie Comics, the film follows the lives of a young group of friends navigating through some teenage and some “grown-up” troubles.
Set in post-independent India in a fictional city called Riverdale, The Archies welcomes us into world developed by Anglo-Indians filled with love and harmony. The vibrant community is rich in culture, social responsibility, and sustainability.
And this is where the film struggles to find a fine balance between developing a great concept and delivering it in a fresh and nuanced package.
At first, what seems like a typical teenage musical film about childish love triangles and friendship drama in a happy-go-lucky small town, soon takes a strong turn to highlight some essential social issues worthy of debate. But not soon enough.
There are themes of social responsibility, nature preservation, the power of free press and democracy and even a perceptive song about everything driven by politics.
But most of it falls flat due to the lacklustre pacing of the film, especially in the first half and the overly restrained performance which doesn’t do much to provoke any urgency or interest.
Credit where credit’s due: the attention to detail with all the technicalities carefully crafted to build Riverdale in the mid-90s is the real showstopper. From production design to costumes, from styling to choreography, and simple dialogues – it immediately makes the viewer familiar with the world.
Releasing a film like The Archies on Netflix for home viewing was certainly a good idea as it doesn’t offer the conventional “theatrical” zing. However, that does come with the disadvantage of convenience where viewers may be tempted to pause or switch off too soon. I was certainly guilty of that.
The Archies seems to be a fun experiment that perhaps would’ve worked better as a short series, or a live theatre show but doesn’t quite have the “va va voom” for a feature film.
