Stolen Movie Review: A Riveting Mob-Thriller Where Privilege Meets Ground Reality
Stolen (2025) is a gut-wrenching thriller that explores mob justice, privilege, and empathy in modern India. Featuring a stellar performance by Abhishek Banerjee, the film delivers a tense ride with strong socio-political undertones.
⭐ Movie Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
Introduction: Humanity vs Hysteria
Karan Tejpal’s Stolen may be his directorial debut, but it lands like a punch to the gut. Inspired by real-life incidents, this thriller places urban privilege face-to-face with rural unrest in a bleak, frenzied night of chaos. With themes like mob lynching, fake news, apathy, and collective fear, Stolen is part social commentary, part heart-pounding thriller.
Plot Summary: When Good Intentions Turn Fatal
Brothers Gautam (Abhishek Banerjee) and Raman (Shubham Vardhan) are dragged into a nightmare when they encounter Jhumpa (Mia Maelzer), a distressed woman whose baby is kidnapped at a railway station. While one brother wants to help, the other wants nothing more than to get back to arranging orchids for their mother’s wedding.
As they try to assist Jhumpa, the trio becomes mistaken for child traffickers, their photos circulating on WhatsApp. What follows is a breathless, terrifying journey through mob paranoia and blind rage.
Performances: Abhishek Banerjee Shines Bright
Abhishek Banerjee delivers a standout performance as Gautam, portraying the apathetic, privileged Indian forced to confront a brutal reality. His transformation is the film’s most powerful arc.
Shubham Vardhan as the idealistic Raman adds moral weight, a character whose good intentions come at a steep price.
Mia Maelzer, as Jhumpa, offers quiet strength and emotional resonance, anchoring the narrative with grit.
Direction and Cinematography: Raw, Urgent, and Claustrophobic
Karan Tejpal’s direction keeps the tension high and emotions raw. The cinematography by Isshaan Ghosh and Sachin S Pillai is especially notable in two key scenes:
A mob lynching sequence that’s as horrifying as it is realistic.
A chase scene inside a car, reminiscent of Children of Men, which grips the viewer with its chaotic energy.
Despite its modest budget, the film’s technical execution punches well above its weight.
Themes and Social Commentary: Hard Truths and Familiar Wounds
Stolen deals with:
Mob justice powered by misinformation.
Class conflict, showing how urban detachment collapses under rural rage.
Privilege in crisis, as represented by Gautam’s emotional arc.
The film questions whether basic human decency still survives in a world flooded with fear, apathy, and manipulated truths.
Flaws: Strong Intent, Slight Stumbles
Some characters feel oversimplified—Raman’s virtue feels too idealistic, while Gautam’s arc shifts too suddenly.
The film revisits familiar territory, echoing past headlines and viral clips. It’s emotionally resonant, but not always fresh.
The second half leans into convenience to tie up certain threads, which slightly reduces its impact.
Final Verdict: A Mad Ride Worth Taking
Despite its imperfections, Stolen is an urgent, relevant film that successfully blends social commentary with high-stakes drama. It doesn’t offer all the answers, but it asks the right questions—about who we are, what we’ve become, and how far we’re willing to go in the name of fear.
Karan Tejpal has arrived with a debut that matters. And Abhishek Banerjee delivers a career-defining turn that will stay with you long after the credits roll.
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