Candyflip (2017) User Reviews

A psychedelic 🍭 and 🌀 trippy affair that's hard to put down!

[Amyth47 · 5/10 · 17 February 2019]

My Rating : 5/10

Just finished watching this. It's a great little experiment in making something more than just pleasing an audience with a resolution. I liked how the movie is simply a flow of visual images once the main lead has candy-flipped and reminded me of 'The Tree Of Life'.

An experimental movie open to interpretation with it's dream-like montages. Not for everyone though as there isn't a definite story or closure, only a semblance of the aftermath of hallucination after a trip.

Stick to Kaalakandi (2017) if you cannot fathom this, this is not mainstream guys!

Experimental trip down the substances lane !!

[madhukar30 · 6/10 · 18 June 2021]

Movies on narcotics are pretty rare in the Indian cinema landscape except for an occasional scene in mainstream cinemas that has some narcotic consumption by the antagonist, just to show that he is a "Bad guy". Some mainstream cinemas based on narcotics are a joke, they are commercial ventures of dubious quality. Director Shanawaz Nellikunnil does two things with Candyflip, first it's an experimental parallel cinema, second it's an experimental cinema on substance abuse of different kinds. I would appreciate Shanawaz Nellikunnil for trying out something new for the Indian movie scene, even if the results aren't spectacular.

Cinematography is excellent and well handled, especially the trance sequences that are wonderfully shot and put together. Screenplay of Candyflip has some excellent moments but also contains some lethargic writing, mixed together. Since there are errors in the overall screenplay, the storytelling appears a bit letdown. Production design, costumes and makeup are decent. EDM inspired Music was good in general but great during the trance sequences. Editing issues are many and doesn't do Candyflip any favours in its 107 minute run time. Though Candyflip has a few big ticket actors Kalki Koechlin and Gulshan Devaiah have very less to do. Prakash Raj does a very different character altogether and gets it right convincingly.

Overall, Though many critics of big newspapers, in their reviews have called Candyflip as half baked, I would call the movie as an wonderful "attempt" by a debutant. The movie will not suit mainstream cinema audiences, I would recommend the movie only to parallel cinema fans to try out something new, with a warning that Candyflip is far from perfect. Maybe with some good writing in the middle and some more interesting characters in the mix, Candyflip would have been a different beast altogether. 6.1 stars out of 10 for trying out something different and fresh, bordering the bizarre.

Bollywood needs to change their perspective

[Disney221 · 3/10 · 18 November 2021]

I don't know if this movie deserves a good or a bad rating. Bollywood has always portrayed goa as a hippie destination for drugs, raves & sex. Thus giving out a negative image about goa. It shows their perspective of goa as a holiday destination for relaxing, doing drugs, going to beaches, freedom to drink alcohol etc. The movie is about a man's acid trip gone horribly wrong which leads him a path of downward spiral.

mind trip

[samlitvin · 9/10 · 17 February 2019]

Really liked this movie, especially just having come from GOA. In some ways it shows effects of western culture on a paradise, in others it shows effects of western culture on people it affects. The movie has a very real quality about it, from the interactions of the people to emotions and has you guessing what is real, what isn't and leaves you thinking about what we're doing to our bodies and people around us, what is the effect of places we go to escape and what we do to them with our escape. Director and cast did a wonderful job and while not everyone will get it, I think those who do will think of it as not just another movie that they watched.

The other side of Goa.

[fullpowerind · 10/10 · 24 July 2019]

Loved the movie, the way its shot is a refreshing. Amazing shots and perspectives refreshingly different form what Indian cinema has been seeing for years.

The psychedelic culture of Goa is captured in a way it was never done before, some scenes are beyond imagination. Killer direction by Shanawaz and loved the cinematography. Cheers to the Team!

A psychedelic rollercoaster ride through the beaches of Goa and beyond!

[thebubblegarden · 8/10 · 28 February 2019]

If you want a raw, random, intimate & alluring trip, then this is the movie for you! Candyflip is a tropical, psychedelic rollercoaster ride through the beaches of Goa and beyond.

If you've visited gorgeous Goa, this dark & experimental film will teleport you back to the familiar sandy beaches, vibrant culture & freedom of the legendary Goan underground party scene.

Mainly English, entwined with some authentic Hindi and Konkani, Candyflip features a beautifully diverse soundtrack and great casting. This cool & quirky Indian independant film breaks the mold of a typical Indian 'song and dance' movie.

The protaganist, Roy (based on a real Indian character), twists and turns through festivity after party after gathering and in the end, you are left guessing what is real and what is imaginary.

Impressively artistic, deeply dark, trippy and truly hectic... this drug fuelled journey is an account of how you do not want your LSD trip to end up... Do not expect to make sense of it all.

I hope to see more from this innovative young director in the future.

What a crazy trip.

[abhisheklangs · 10/10 · 26 February 2019]

Everything is just perfect, the location, background score, it's easy to get sucked into the story and characters from the beginning. Haven't seen a more honest Indian movie in a long time. Would have liked to call it Indias own trainspotting, but I feel its too good to be compared and has it's own originality. Something that's done well at the same time stays raw when it needs to. Every little detail makes you realise how hard the whole team and director has worked to take care of even little details. Way ahead of it's time. A visual treat accompanied by perfect sound, some fine acting and a honest story. It's something you would want to watch more than once. Has many layers to it. Really glad I invested my time watching this. Time well spent. And I wouldn't mind watching it again with friends or even alone. Great movie. Extemely Underrated.

It's so raw .

[kushalrajtula · 8/10 · 6 June 2020]

I felt like this movie showed lot of rawness about goa. Goa is just like any other biased coin ... It has good and bad .. we don't know what u get when the coin flips.....

Similarly in the beginning Roy(hero) setup a shack on the beach ... Finding a girl .... Having different kinds of friends ..... This all the good side of goa.

Then the goa get flips to bad side that when he do drugs ......

The taking is too raw ... There are some interesting things in this movie ... Like the goan culture about ajoobas..... The stone where it's carved "give if u can ..... Take if u have to"

Kalki Koechlin did good but something in my head is where did she dissapeared from car when roy went to get seeds.

Prakash Raj acting is great as always ... But he being like a baba staying in goan forests and his goan slang made it lil bit funny rather than interesting.

There are few interesting characters in the movie and felt like their characters just get cut off .

The twist of Maya death... It's like typical indian movie.. At few scenes I got goosebumps ... At 2-3 points movie became slow felt like repeated...

In the end when I came to know the story inspired by a guy name sunny... I did my research .... And found out he's still in goa..

movie is lot of experimental and raw , as a first film for director, he did a great job

Overall I want to say the film proper raw .... If u know goa then ull like the film.

A crazy roller coaster ride

[siddharthchandranpv · 8/10 · 21 August 2019]

Pure Gem in terms of experimental indie cinema culture. Amazing cinematography, sound, and tense narrative

Genius

[wasimsharief · 9/10 · 28 September 2019]

Absolutely true story of goa... beautifully scripted and directed...

"Magical Experience"

[tejasfulzele · 8/10 · 15 August 2019]

This is one of those rare flims that only comes along once in a blue moon; it will immediately have you reevaluating some of your Psychedelic experience. Clearly Seen that Director Shanawaz Nellikulin has a great vision of Goa psychedelic culture. And the use of cinematographic elements and visual effects to convey both ecstasy and horror is suberb.

Criminally underrated

[akashacharya199 · 8/10 · 11 November 2019]

I'm surprised by the extremely low ratings that this movie . It's not for the commercial audience as this is a beautifully shot psychedelic open-ended movie open to many interpretations. Great performances as well by all the actors.