Marco pushes the boundaries of violence in Indian cinema, but here’s why Kill remains undefeated in gore

And, of course, the proclamations of Marco dethroning Kill, Animal or Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire as the most violent Indian film, came soon after. The censor board asking the film’s team to censor or tone down certain scenes only solidified the belief that it ventured into unchartered territory. Fans of gore were in for a ride, but is the film really that good? The answer is both yes and no.

Marco pushes the boundaries of violence

Commercial cinema has increased the amount of violence year by year, threading the fine line between extreme entertainment and sadistic gratification. Moral policing aside, Asians and Americans have done that for years, so we’re just catching up. But no matter how many heads or arms you’ve seen heroes chop, nothing prepares you for Marco.

The film starts as usual: a violent gangster is on a rampage to avenge the death of a loved one while trying his best to protect what he has left. In one scene, Marco is described as a pit bull, a dog with a bone to pick. Everything from acid and gas cylinders to chainsaws are used as weapons of destruction, but there’s a nagging feeling that you’ve seen it all before. And there’s some literal backstabbing and power play before the pièce de résistance comes around.

The way the scene that’s meant to put a boulder in your stomach is shot feels more for shock value than anything else. Without giving much away, let’s just say the body count per minute goes higher, and a house is literally swathed in blood (a nod to Stephen King, perhaps). No one is spared, irrespective of gender or age. This scene is the reason for the aforementioned throwing up or fainting in theatres. Marco has inarguably kicked it up a notch for gore in Indian cinema, regardless of how you feel about it.

But, upping the level of nausea aside, Marco has little to offer regarding emotional heft, logic or smart writing. The performances and technical prowess make up for it. The Asian cinema Marco fashions itself after (The Vengeance Trilogy (2002-2005), I Saw the Devil (2010)) thrives on making you believe every piece of bloody brain matter or decapitated head you see on screen belongs there for a reason. Even better, it makes you root irrevocably for the hero, giving you a reason to relish the coda.

Marco is surrounded by love, yet you can hardly feel any of it when he loses it. His loyalty to his family is admirable, but his backstory needs more work.

Why Kill remains undefeated

Where Marco (both the character and the film) made some not-so-smart choices, Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Lakshya and Raghav Juyal-starrer Kill (2024) thrived. For one, the film makes it easy to root for Lakshya’s hero, an army officer, but Raghav’s performance also helps you form a love-hate relationship with the modern-day dacoit he plays. The limited setting – a train – ensures it’s hard to shift your focus from the gore and the characters’ fate through the runtime. Again, everything from a fire extinguisher to a lighter is used as a weapon, but Kill approaches violence more cautiously, unlike Marco.

In fact, at one point in Kill, you are so distracted by Lakshya’s emotional turmoil and Raghav’s growing insanity that the blood splatter on the screen begins to feel like an afterthought. You want Lakshya to kill these men, maybe even in the most painful way possible, but you also know it’s a defeated cause. Where Kill spends more time torturing those who deserve it, Marco focuses on tormenting the innocent. And that just feels gratuitous.

I am no purist, but at the end of the day, I’d pick a film with substance over style, even if that’s important too. I’d rather relish in every (if not most) punch, kick, dismemberment and decapitation. Give me something more unpredictable than watching people being unceremoniously tortured for shallow reasons; that’s low-hanging fruit.

Nonetheless, Marco dares to step where no one ever has, so kudos. The film went from being featured on 89 screens on day 1 to 1360 screens in its third week and collected over ₹79 crore worldwide in 14 days, a win for Malayalam cinema. It’s even getting a Korea release. But irrespective of whether the film nails its assignment or not, Indian cinema has officially understood gore. And that marks a new beginning.