Youth: A Powerful, Poignant Review of Sorrentino's Film

The premise is deceptively simple. Praveen (Ken Karunaas) is a 15-year-old boy at a crossroads: school is ending, and he is determined to find true love before it does. Driven by a romantic idealism he has likely absorbed from cinema and pulp novels, he enters adolescence with a strategic plan. The film charts his journey through a series of relationships - from the spirited but pragmatic Kanagavalli (Anishma Anilkumar) to the magnetic Preshika (Meenakshi Dinesh) and the serene Sonal (Priyanshi Yadav). Each romance is a microcosm of a different kind of lesson: infatuation, selfishness, sacrifice, and quiet rejection. Along the way, his harried father Unnikrishnan (Suraj Venjaramoodu) and loving yet exasperated mother Saroja (Devadarshini) provide the grounding adult perspective, while his chaotic friend Guna (Abison Thevarasa) and the elder Babloo (Sarath) offer comic relief. The story does not race toward a climactic conclusion; instead, it meanders, reflecting the non-linear, often confusing nature of adolescent growth.

Ken Karunaas wears multiple hats here - director, writer, and lead actor - and the film reflects both the ambition and the strain of that triple duty. As a director, Karunaas has a sharp eye for intimate, small-scale scenes. There is a sequence where Praveen and Kanagavalli share a packet of chips on a silent school rooftop, the city lights blurring behind them, and it is frankly gorgeous. The cinematography captures that in-between moment - not quite childhood, not quite adulthood - with a hazy, late-evening glow. But as a writer, Karunaas has trouble with pacing. The second act drags significantly, caught between two relationships that feel too similar in structure. The film could have easily lost 15-20 minutes and gained momentum.

As an actor, Karunaas is a revelation. He inhabits Praveen with a raw, fidgety energy that is instantly recognizable to anyone who remembers being 15. He is awkward without being a caricature, sensitive without being mawkish. When he gets his heart broken - and he does, multiple times - you feel the sting of that first, devastating experience of being “dumped.” The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Suraj Venjaramoodu brings his familiar comic timing as the father, but the role is underwritten, often reduced to shouting from the next room. Devadarshini fares much better as Saroja; her scene where she silently watches her son cry from behind a kitchen door is the emotional anchor of the entire film. Among the young women, Anishma Anilkumar’s Kanagavalli stands out - she brings a quiet intelligence to her role, making the audience understand exactly why Praveen is so captivated. Meenakshi Dinesh and Priyanshi Yadav have less to work with but are effective in their limited screen time.

The film’s greatest strength is its refusal to glamorize teenage love. There are no grand gestures that “win the girl back.” Instead, love here is a series of mundane disappointments: a message left unread, a date that never happens, a confession that gets laughed off. Youth understands that heartbreak at 15 feels like the end of the world, and it honors that feeling without pandering. The screenplay occasionally veers into preachy territory - “Love is not about possession, son,” a character says at one point, in a voice that feels more writerly than real - but these moments are balanced by a genuinely funny script. Abison Thevarasa’s Guna provides much-needed levity, especially in a scene where he tries to give Praveen relationship advice based on a cricket match.

Pros

• Ken Karunaas’s raw, authentic performance as Praveen
• Stunning cinematography in intimate, quiet moments
• Devadarshini’s deeply affecting portrayal of a mother’s quiet anguish
• Honest, unglamorous depiction of teenage heartbreak
• Strong supporting turn from Anishma Anilkumar

Cons

• Overlong runtime, especially in the sluggish second act
• Some dialogue feels didactic and forced
• Several supporting characters, including the father, are underdeveloped
• The tonal shift from comedy to drama is occasionally jarring

Youth is not a perfect film. It is too long, too earnest in spots, and too uneven in its handling of the adult characters. But it captures something essential about the pain and confusion of growing up - a feeling so specific and yet so universal that it makes the film’s flaws feel forgivable. Ken Karunaas has made a debut that announces a filmmaker with genuine empathy for his characters, and an actor willing to be vulnerable on screen. This is a movie that will resonate best with those who remember what it felt like to have their first heart shaped like a bruise. It may not redefine Tamil cinema, but for a quiet evening of reflection, Youth offers more truth than many bigger, louder films. Worth a watch.