Director Srinidhi Bengaluru’s Kannada horror film Video presents a chilling found-footage chronicle following five YouTube content creators who mysteriously disappear after venturing into a deadly haunted location during a lunar eclipse.

A Thrilling Plot Driven by Digital Ambition

The narrative centers on the five-member content creation group known as the Tarle Gang—played by Bharath K Tumkur, Jeevan Shivakumar, Tejesh S Manjunath, Priya J Achar, and Nalme Nachiyar. Having celebrated a major milestone of reaching one million subscribers, the group embarks on a road trip to Odisha in search of the fictional Diniwa tribe, a community rumored to be involved in occult practices and cannibalism. Driven by the relentless pursuit of online engagement and viral content, their expedition takes a catastrophic turn when all five members vanish without a trace.

When a passing traveller later discovers their abandoned camera gear, director Srinidhi Bengaluru frames the story by arranging the recovered media in chronological order. Through GoPros, DSLRs, mobile phones, and CCTV footage, the movie reconstructs the harrowing sequence of events leading up to their disappearance on the night of a lunar eclipse.

Raw Aesthetics and Technical Excellence

Evoking memories of the 2013 sleeper hit 6-5=2, Video thrives on its realistic visual treatment and unpolished presentation. Cinematographer Avinaasha Shastry captures erratic, handheld movements and unscripted angles, reinforcing the terrifying impression that the events were documented in real time rather than staged for a screen.

The camera begins as a means of attracting attention, but as the Tarle Gang travels further, it gradually feels less like something they control.

Sanjeev Jagirdar’s editing seamlessly weaves the disjointed footage together without stripping away its authentic roughness. Meanwhile, the unsettling sound design by T S Hariharasudhan, Rahul Rajan, and R J Rahul, along with Prasanna Kumar’s atmospheric music, sustains an escalating sense of dread long before the core threat fully reveals itself.

Praise for Performances and Genre Experimentation

The core cast delivers believable performances that ground the film’s escalating chaos. The central actors effectively portray long-time friends whose casual banter and content-seeking enthusiasm slowly crumble into intense fear. Producer Deekshith Shetty, who previously collaborated with Srinidhi Bengaluru on Blink, backs another unique creative risk that diverges significantly from conventional horror tropes.

While the 122-minute runtime features a slightly stretched first half and occasional overexposure of its horror elements in the final act, Video remains a commendable technical achievement. It delivers genuine thrills and introduces a fresh narrative flavor to Kannada cinema’s horror landscape.