In Devil’s Double Next Level, director S. Prem Anand takes the Dhilluku Dhuddu formula—a blend of slapstick horror and satire—and injects a new meta twist: what if film critics were sucked into a movie designed to destroy them? It’s an idea brimming with potential. But like a cursed script that can’t quite conjure its own magic, the execution rarely matches the ambition.
Santhanam plays Kissa 47, a Gen-Z-esque film reviewer on YouTube, whose exaggerated swagger and constant “bro”-spouting personality makes him as irritating as he is intentionally caricatured. He and his ragtag circle—including girlfriend Harshini (Geethika Tiwary), parents (Kasthuri & Nizhalgal Ravi), and a scene-stealing sidekick Veenpechu Babu (Rajendran)—get trapped inside a haunted movie crafted by the ghostly director Hitchcock Irudhayaraj (Selvaraghavan), a cinephile spirit out for revenge against critics.
The concept—reviewers becoming victims of their own medium—offers endless room for self-referential hilarity. The early portions deliver on that promise: scenes where characters break the fourth wall, interact with subtitles, play with film grammar, and poke fun at horror clichés are inventive and genuinely funny. In particular, the running gag involving Gautham Vasudev Menon playing a version of himself as a stoic, English-spouting investigator adds comic flair.
But somewhere after the intermission, the screenplay starts to unravel.
Despite a clever premise, DD Next Level is unable to maintain tonal consistency. It tries to do too much—mixing slasher horror, supernatural elements, family drama, parody, and even action—which results in a hodgepodge of half-developed ideas. The jokes become repetitive, the pacing lags, and attempts to inject emotional stakes feel forced and poorly motivated. The horror elements lack bite, and the scares feel more like haunted house attractions than real tension-builders.
Even within the franchise’s traditionally goofy standards, this entry feels particularly uneven. Where previous films embraced their absurdity with confidence, DD Next Level often second-guesses itself—distracted by its own attempts at being clever.
The most frustrating element is its obsession with meta-humor. It starts off as witty commentary on the state of film reviewing, Tamil cinema, and genre tropes—but quickly becomes overindulgent. After a point, characters repeatedly acknowledging they are in a movie loses its charm and becomes a crutch. The story sacrifices momentum for gags that don’t always land.
On the technical front, the film is surprisingly polished. The VFX, though not groundbreaking, is effective enough to sell the movie-within-a-movie aesthetic. The haunted sets—from the surreal cinema hall Cinema Paradise to the ghostly island mansion—are creatively conceived. The soundtrack does its job but never soars, though the visual flourishes keep things visually engaging.
Santhanam delivers his usual antics, but his material doesn’t do him justice. His dialogue feels more forced than funny, especially with a script that gives him little variation beyond meme-level “bro”-isms. Rajendran, however, is a reliable source of laughs, and his scenes with GVM provide the film’s brightest moments.
Selvaraghavan, as the vengeful auteur ghost, has an intimidating presence, but the film underutilizes him, especially when his character devolves into a monologue machine. GVM, though limited in range, excels in deadpan delivery—he plays the meta game better than most in the cast.
Female characters, sadly, remain underwritten and relegated to background distress. Geethika Tiwary, Kasthuri, and Yashika Anand are given thankless roles that do little beyond reacting to chaos around them.
Devil’s Double Next Level is not without charm. There are flashes of brilliance—smart gags, solid performances, and inventive set-ups—but they are buried under layers of chaotic storytelling and undercooked horror. It’s a film that wants to be a clever parody, a cult favorite, a self-aware rollercoaster. Instead, it settles into a frustrating middle-ground where the horror isn’t scary, the comedy isn’t consistent, and the satire isn’t sharp enough.
It’s neither the best nor the worst of the Dhilluku Dhuddu universe, but certainly the most confused. A film about critics trapped in a movie deserves sharper writing, and this one, ironically, could use a critical revision of its own.
CINEMA SPICE RATING: ★★½ (2.5/5 Stars)
