Monica O My Darling, an adaptation of a Japanese story, had all the right elements for a neo-noir comic crime thriller, and delivers it effectively. Director Vasan Bala and screenwriter Yogesh Chandekar inform this stray moment with a delicious mix of wit, wickedness and whimsicality that defines the neo-noir comic thriller as a whole. Full of knowing winks thrown the audience's way, the movie is a wildly entertaining film packed with twists and turns that keep on giving until the final fadeout.

Rajkumar Rao, with his performances has been outstanding consistently and this is his 2nd Netflix film, after Ludo, to be critically acclaimed. Huma Qureshi as Monica Machado, the top honcho's secretary, a femme fatale who employs her guiles to hold her ground on a slippery slope was brilliant and nd Radhika Apte, given an "and above all" billing a la Pran in Hindi movies of another era, is ACP Naidu, wisecracks her way through the grind of policing. Vasan Bala and the cast has done a great job indeed in bringing a rarely attempted dark comedy with the elements of murder and conspiracies.

My Rating : 8/10.