CTRL review: Ctrl-Alt-Del, but who is in control—human or AI?

Writer Avinash Sampath and director Vikramaditya Motwane’s film warns about the dangers of technology, social media, and discreet monopolies, but delivering this message through a flirtatious AI character feels far-fetched. Ananya Panday continues to evolve as an actor.

Rating: (2 / 5)

By Mayur Lookhar

For long, technology has supported filmmaking, but in this era, it has shaped the narrative for many tales. Artificial Intelligence has intrigued the present, and it is the future for a world increasingly reliant on technology. While weaponising AI is common, humanising it is what truly piques viewer interest. Joaquin Phoenix’s Her (2013) is regarded as one of the first films to humanise AI, with the protagonist falling in love with his AI assistant, voiced in the seductive tone of Scarlett Johansson. Writer-director Vikramaditya Motwane’s CTRL (2024) follows suit, but this cyber thriller cautions about the perils of technology, social media, and digital monopoly.

Technology infringing on privacy? That’s passé. Once you’re on the internet, nothing is private. With the world hooked on social media, most don’t care about privacy, logs, or data. In the private space, life feels hollow, but social media gives many a sense of belonging.

Naila Awasthi, aka Nella (Ananya Panday), and her boyfriend Joe Mascarenhas (Vihaan Samat) run a successful social media platform called NJoy. Their content is their life, with the duo filming most of their candid moments. Phew, with silly talk like making out in libraries and labs, you can imagine the quality of their subscribers—but anything can go viral.

Nella and Joe’s life has become an open book. If their candid moments are filmed, it’s only natural to publish the breakup video. At a party, Nella catches her beau red-handed, kissing a stranger who turns out to be Joe’s colleague. Tempers flare, and the relationship ends. Surprisingly, despite the video evidence, it’s poor Nella who gets ridiculed by NJoy’s subscribers. Trolls aren’t shy about sexism and slander. One comment links to an app called CTRL, an AI assistant that users can customise. Reading Nella backwards gives Allen, which is why she names her AI assistant Allen. Out of frustration, Nella commands Allen to erase her Ex from her life. Allen obliges, erasing Joe from all their photos and videos on social media, and Nella’s devices. The relief is short-lived—a week later, Nella is shocked by news that Joe has gone missing. She last saw him ringing her doorbell, but she refused to answer. Before vanishing, Joe had mentioned he wanted to discuss something important, unrelated to their failed relationship.

Viewers should discover that important thing for themselves, but did Motwane and Avinash Sampath need an AI creation to convey their message on the perils of social media, technology, and discreet monopolies? This reviewer isn’t tech-savvy, but he has some inkling of AI tools. We assume most AI apps discourage flirtatious, sexual, destructive, or violent communication. See the picture below.

Motwane and Sampath disregard these guidelines, turning their AI character, Allen, into a flirtatious figure. Why do so many Indian filmmakers reduce technology to an object of desire? It’s not the human but the AI who seems more smitten by Nella. The cheap jokes and at times pedestrian tone instantly make Allen unlikable. The poor quality of the voice-over artist also fails to draw you to the character. Nella, too, never shows affection for her AI assistant. It’s baffling how any user would tolerate Allen for even 10 minutes. Most would uninstall or press Ctrl-Alt-Del, but in this story, it’s the AI that controls the human.

The screenplay has its flaws, but what keeps the viewer engaged is the technological and graphical representation, along with a competent performance by the ever-improving Ananya Panday. We’ve always been intrigued by how filming personal life becomes social media content. How is that influencing? Whether real (Gaurav Taneja-Ritu Rathee) or reel (Nella-Joe), such content creators tend to face more flak when things go awry in a relationship. Even during their romantic moments, there’s a sense that the joy won’t last. The real Nella, though, comes alive when fuming, hurling desi cuss words at Joe and his colleague Shonali. Often scrutinized for her privilege, Panday has certainly come a long way from her Student of the Year 2 (2019) days.

Vihaan Samat is a relatively unknown face in cinema, and this is the first time we’ve seen him act. If we recall correctly, the young man is mostly shown through gadget screens or video apps. Perhaps it’s his innocent face, which might make Samat fans overlook Joe’s infidel act. He is competent in the early scenes, but when the hidden video is unveiled, his dialogue delivery feels rushed.

The narrative focuses heavily on Nella, leaving little room for other actors. Without giving too much away, the only scene featuring the antagonist piques curiosity, especially since the character is named Aryan K. It’s mentioned earlier that Aryan was once jailed in a legal matter, and bailed out by his influential powerful father. Why Motwane and Netflix chose to name the character Aryan K is something only they can explain. Hopefully, Shah Rukh Khan and his son Aryan take it in good humour.

Motwane and Sampath’s film progresses well until the real conflict emerges, when Nella uncovers uncomfortable truths. From this point, one expects the story to deliver on its cyber thriller promise, but the momentum quickly fades as the film veers towards a practical but dull conclusion.

Apart from Panday, the ones who can hold their heads high are the graphic designers and the editing team, whose task was to frame the shots within the requisite windows. With films like Trapped (2016), Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018), and AK vs AK (2021), Motwane has a flair for picking intriguing subjects, but his work tends to divide opinions. Theatrically, luck hasn’t always been on his side, but there’s never an excuse for cinematic missteps. CTRL has its charm and appeal, but it doesn’t fully satisfy our desire for a good Indian cyber thriller.

Watch the video review below.