Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups Review

Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups, a gangland action saga spanning five decades, is set to release on August 26. The film, edited with snappy impressionism, spans from the 1920s to India's independence in 1947, and even further, tracing the changing face of Goa as a haven for a drug trade. Despite its expensive production, the movie's visual splendor is overshadowed by its disorienting narrative and excessive action sequences.

The story follows Raya, played by Yash, and his spurned son Rumi, or "Ticket," played by Yash again, as they seek revenge for abandonment. Nadia, played by Kiara Advani, is the young acrobat mother who hands her son over to Raya. The opening scenes provide a glimpse into the characters' pasts, setting the stage for an explosive future.

However, the film's intervening three hours are a headache, with a sloppily assembled narrative and overly focused on machismo and violent subplots. The film's music draws from early-to-mid aughts era blockbusters, with little originality or coherent sonic identity. Despite occasional attempts at subverting expectations, it feels like the product of a studio system prioritizing tropes of hero worship and machismo.