Logout Movie Review: Babil Khan Powers a Chilling Take on Digital Obsession and Isolation

Babil Khan shines in Logout, a psychological techno-thriller directed by Amit Golani. Blending digital dread with emotional depth, the film explores the darker side of influencer culture. Streaming now on ZEE5.

🎬 Introduction: A Smart House, A Lost Phone, and A Digital Nightmare

In Logout, director Amit Golani crafts a suspenseful, single-location thriller that feels unsettlingly relevant. The movie doesn’t chase the sci-fi dystopia of Black Mirror or the flashy tropes of tech-based thrillers. Instead, it zooms in on something far more familiar—our ever-growing dependence on digital validation and how dangerously entangled our real lives are with our virtual ones.

With a restrained screenplay by Biswapati Sarkar and a compelling lead performance by Babil Khan, Logout on ZEE5 taps into the psychological fallout of being always online—and what happens when the device that holds your entire life falls into the wrong hands.

📱 Plot Summary: When Your Phone Becomes Your Enemy

Pratyush aka “Pratman” (Babil Khan) is a 20-something social media influencer with 9.8 million followers and one mission—hit 10 million before his rivals. He lives in a high-tech smart house where everything is voice-controlled, and his phone is practically an extension of his body.

One morning, he wakes up to find his phone missing. Soon, a teenage fangirl hacks into his digital life, using his secrets and online presence to manipulate him. What follows is a digital siege—a suspense-filled cat-and-mouse game, all within the confines of his home. It’s not ghosts that haunt him, but glitches, buzzing speakers, and flickering lights—21st-century horrors.

🧠 Themes: The Price of Going Viral

Logout explores multiple themes, including:

• The illusion of digital control: Pratyush believes he owns his online image, but he’s merely a product of it.

• The toxicity of influencer culture: Truth becomes expendable when clicks and likes drive value.

• Psychological entrapment: A literal and metaphorical rat trap mirrors how Pratyush is caught in a web of his own making.

The phone acts as a modern-day voodoo doll—every tap, leak, and hack carries the potential to destroy someone’s life and reputation.

🎭 Performances: Babil Khan Anchors the Film with Grit and Emotion

Babil Khan is the emotional anchor of Logout. His portrayal of Pratyush swings from digital bravado to raw vulnerability. Initially, you’re annoyed by his superficiality, but as the story progresses and the layers peel away, Babil exposes the insecurity, grief, and loneliness buried under his influencer mask.

In one of the film’s most powerful moments, he breaks down crying in front of a dreamlike version of his father. It’s hard not to draw parallels with Babil’s real-life connection to his late father, Irrfan Khan. For a moment, reality and fiction blur—creating a scene that feels deeply authentic and heartbreakingly human.

🎥 Direction & Visuals: Claustrophobia Meets Digital Disarray

Director Amit Golani keeps things tight and atmospheric. The use of the smart home as a setting is clever—not just because it’s visually sleek, but because it represents Pratyush’s self-contained world. As things spiral out of control, the lighting and sound design follow suit—giving us a physical sense of digital anxiety.

This isn’t a film full of jump scares or loud background scores; it’s more interested in slow burns, psychological tension, and unsettling silence.

✍️ Writing: Satirical Yet Empathetic

Biswapati Sarkar does an excellent job writing characters who are not just symbolic but believable. The story critiques influencer hypocrisy (like claiming to be vegan for brand deals) but also shows the vulnerability of these online personas. The antagonist—a faceless fangirl—isn’t just a villain but a product of the same broken system of parasocial relationships and toxic fandom.

✅ What Works

• Babil Khan’s deeply emotional performance

• Unique blend of thriller and social commentary

• Clever use of single-location setting

• Taut direction and minimal yet impactful visuals

• Powerful metaphors like the rat trap

❌ What Doesn’t

• Some metaphorical moments feel too on-the-nose

• May feel slow-paced for those expecting a conventional thriller

• Lack of background on the antagonist’s motivations

🧩 Final Verdict

Rating: ★★★½ (3.5/5)
Logout is a tense, emotionally resonant thriller that smartly critiques our over-reliance on the digital world. With a riveting central performance by Babil Khan and thoughtful writing that explores both horror and humanity, this ZEE5 original is worth logging into.