Boomika 2021

In Nagapattinam, a man drives home to visit his pregnant wife, and while talking on the phone about a recently closed construction deal, his car collides with an oncoming truck, leaving him dead.

Samyuktha, Aishwarya Rajesh, a psychologist based in Ooty, is trying to help her four-year-old son Siddhu overcome a speech impediment. Her husband, Gautham, Vidhu, is a rising architect who has just wrapped up a deal to refurbish a deserted compound for a politician. To keep the project moving, the couple invites Gautham’s childhood friend, Gayathri, a reputed architect, and Aditi, Gautham’s sister, to live with them at the site.

As they prepare to stay at the compound, Gayathri begins texting with Krishna, an old friend of hers. After sending a selfie of her and Aditi, Krishna ominously replies that he’ll “see” the picture if they “begin to take things more seriously.” Gautham then reveals Krishna had died in a car accident the night before and that the area around the compound has no satellite connectivity. Soon, unsettling events unfold: Gayathri’s phone keeps beeping with new messages even after the battery is removed, and the power fails. The group tries to flee, only to be blocked by a malfunctioning car.

Back at the compound, Sam and Gayathri conclude the texts aren’t coming from Krishna, given his death, and that a paranormal force is behind them. Gautham shares that the compound sits on the site of a former school that vanished from the map over ten years earlier after a girl’s death—an event tied to the notorious “Mount Roseyard School Mystery.” As they search for clues about the school’s history, they discover magazines with related articles, only to find the pages torn out.

Aditi, terrified, tries to escape but is attacked by a pack of wild dogs. Gautham and Dharman, the compound’s security guard, rescue her, though they are all injured. While treating Aditi, they uncover torn pages in the house of the school’s former librarian, Ganesan.

From the pages they learn about Boomika, the autistic daughter of the librarian. Boomika was an exceptionally talented artist who spent much of her time painting in an abandoned flat or roaming the nearby forest, despite her father urging formal schooling. She gained a reputation and was admitted to the school, but she died under mysterious circumstances. After her death, the area became notorious for murders, and the community reportedly migrated away.

Dharman quips that Boomika and the Earth are the same— Earth will strike back at anyone who desecrates it. This echoes the Gaia Hypothesis—the idea that the Earth is a single, self-regulating system in which any threat to ecological balance can provoke a collective response. Meanwhile, Gautham visits Boomika’s old painting flat and witnesses the wall-paintings moving on their own. Aditi, consumed by fear, destroys Gayathri’s phone, believing it to be the cause of the disturbances; Gayathri pursues her and is confronted by a ghastly apparition—presumably Boomika’s spirit—standing behind Aditi. Boomika’s presence knocks out Aditi and Gayathri, and Sam, with Gautham, flees back into the compound, realizing Siddhu was left behind. Siddhu is seen painting with Boomika, and just before Sam leaves, he whispers “Thank you,” signaling that he has begun to speak again.

With Boomika apparently gone, the group leaves the site. In the days that follow, Aditi begins therapy for trauma, Gayathri recuperates from her injuries, Dharman returns to his hometown, Siddhu’s speech returns, and Gautham stays in Ooty to shepherd the refurbishment. He conducts a bhumi puja to keep Boomika from returning.

Back in Bengaluru, Sam learns from Gayathri the deeper truth behind Boomika’s death: Boomika had killed herself, distraught by the ongoing infrastructure projects that threatened the surrounding forests. Gayathri explains that Ganesan had been pressured to stay silent, and that the murders that followed Boomika’s death were linked to people connected to construction. Boomika’s actions fit the Gaia Hypothesis—Earth’s instinct to protect its ecological balance by removing those who threaten it. Realizing Gautham might be in danger, Sam hurries back to Ooty, only to discover that Krishna had mediated the deal with the politician, a move that led to Krishna’s death in the car crash and later to the politician’s murder.

Upon her return to Ooty, Sam learns that Gautham is about to refurbish the abandoned flat, but the door locks him inside. He witnesses the wall-paintings move once more and faces Boomika’s figure, who lets out a scream as the screen cuts to black — a chilling suggestion that she is about to claim him.