The Adamant Girl 2024

Paandi, Soori as Paandi, Meena’s maternal uncle, returns from abroad after several years with plans to marry her. But Meena Anna Ben is steadfast in her love for a young man from an oppressed caste, a choice her family attributes to a spell. The family’s concerns are quiet but persistent, casting a shadow over their hopes of a traditional union.

To confront what they believe is a supernatural influence, Paandi, along with his parents, extended family, and friends, sets out on a journey to seek guidance from a seer. Before they meet the seer, they pause to honor their family deity, performing rites that are meant to cleanse and protect them on the long road ahead. The trip becomes more arduous than expected, testing their patience and unity.

On the way, their procession is plagued by everyday hurdles: a malfunctioning autorickshaw that sputters and coughs, Karthi’s urgent need to use the restroom, and Rani’s uncomfortable menstrual cramps. They witness a puberty ceremony procession nearby, a reminder of cycles, growing pains, and the passage from childhood to adulthood. Paandi’s temper flares when Meena hums a tune, and he lashes out at his relatives, including Meena’s mother Shanti and her father, Murugan, as well as the auto driver Suresh, even striking his own father in a moment of heated emotion. The moment soured quickly, and he later offers a remorseful apology to Murugan for his outburst.

Behind the group, Siva and Mani trail along, but they divert to a wine shop and whisper about Meena’s fidelity, muttering that she might be pregnant, a rumor they think would justify her insistence on marriage. A few surreal touches punctuate the journey: a bull roams across their path, steered away by a young girl who claims it as her only companion, and a rooster destined for sacrifice makes a doomed bid to escape. Amid the chaos, Meena experiences a vision of herself walking freely with her hair untied—an image of liberation that contrasts with the constraints around her.

Eventually they reach Palamedu, where the seer’s residence becomes the focal point of clashes between belief and desire. Paandi watches as another girl, close in age to Meena, is supposedly freed from infertility through ritual. The seer performs a series of intimate acts—stroking the girl’s navel and neck, then blowing air into her mouth—while claiming to remove tiny voodoo balls and lift the spell that has held the girl back. The scene is difficult for Paandi to witness; he leaves, but is called back and returns reluctantly, caught between faith and his own conscience. The film draws to a close with a stark black screensaver and the message that invites the viewer to shape the outcome of this journey, underscored by the lines of uncertainty and hope.

The end of this journey is in your hands.