“Sector 36,” released on September 13, 2024, on Netflix, directed by Aditya Nimbalkar in his debut, is a Hindi-language crime thriller that dives into the dark underbelly of corruption and depravity. Produced by Maddock Films and Jio Studios, and starring Vikrant Massey, Deepak Dobriyal, and Akash Khurana, the film is a fictionalized take on the 2006 Noida serial murders in Nithari village—a case that shook India with its brutality. It’s a solid, if imperfect, addition to India’s growing slate of dark thrillers.

The story unfolds in Delhi’s Sector 36, a slum where children vanish without a trace. Sub-Inspector Ram Charan Pandey (Dobriyal), a corrupt cop more interested in bribes than justice, shrugs off the missing kids—until a severed hand in a sewer forces his attention. Across the tracks, Prem Singh (Massey), a seemingly meek caretaker for businessman Balbir Bassi (Khurana), is revealed as the monster behind the abductions, raping and dismembering his victims with chilling detachment. When Prem kidnaps the daughter of a wealthy industrialist, the police machinery jolts awake, exposing a stark class divide in justice. What ensues is a cat-and-mouse chase that’s as much about systemic rot as it is about catching a killer.

The film’s opening sets a brutal tone—Prem chopping a corpse while a TV blares a game show—and it rarely lets up. Massey delivers a career-defining performance, his eerie calm and smug confessions turning Prem into a figure of pure dread. His interrogation scene, a masterclass in restraint and menace, lingers long after. Dobriyal matches him as Pandey, evolving from apathy to reluctant resolve with raw intensity, especially when the case gets personal. Their interplay—culminating in a police station showdown—is the film’s heartbeat. Khurana’s Bassi is a quiet enabler, his understated menace amplifying the horror.

Nimbalkar’s direction, paired with Saurabh Goswami’s shadowy cinematography, crafts a suffocating atmosphere—slum alleys and Bassi’s eerie mansion feel alive with menace. Ketan Sodha’s score, pulsing with anxiety, heightens the tension, though some tracks overplay the drama. At 123 minutes, the pacing is taut in the first half, building dread as Prem’s crimes unfold, but the second half falters—shifting to procedural chaos and a climax that leans on gore over resolution. Bodhayan Roychaudhury’s script shines in exposing societal apathy, contrasting the police’s inertia with their zeal for the elite, yet it stumbles with an abrupt ending that leaves loose threads dangling.

“Sector 36” isn’t flawless. It takes liberties with the Nithari case—shifting the sector number, glossing over real-life complexities like the accused’s acquittal—risking accusations of exploitation. The investigative depth is thin, and the supporting cast (Darshan Jariwala, Baharul Islam) gets little to do.

Still, it’s a cut above average Bollywood thrillers. It’s not for the faint-hearted—gory visuals and Prem’s cold recounting of cannibalism are stomach-churning—but it’s a bold mirror to a society that often looks away. It lacks the original “Stree”’s genre finesse or “12th Fail”’s emotional heft, but it’s a worthy showcase for Massey and Dobriyal. If you can handle the darkness, “Sector 36” is a tense, thought-provoking ride that sticks with you—warts and all.

Rating: 3.5/5

A chilling, well-acted thriller that stumbles in its final act but lands hard as a stark societal wake-up call.