Deverakonda's ambitious film falls short, lacking depth despite big ideas

Gowtham Tinnanuri’s Kingdom opens with a gripping premise—a 1920 tribal rebellion against British exploitation—but quickly devolves into a messy, incoherent narrative. Set primarily in the 1990s, the film follows constable Soori (Vijay Deverakonda) on a mission to rescue his smuggler brother (Satyadev) in war-torn Sri Lanka. Despite stunning visuals and Anirudh’s electrifying score, the film falters with lazy writing, shallow characters, and a baffling disregard for historical context.

The Sri Lankan civil war is reduced to a backdrop for mindless action, with no exploration of the Tamil-Sinhala conflict. Key plot points—like Adivasis forced into smuggling or the abrupt tonal shifts—lack emotional or logical weight. Deverakonda and Satyadev deliver solid performances, but their characters feel hollow, with zero meaningful interactions. Villain Murugan (Venkatesh) shines, yet even he can’t salvage the disjointed storytelling.

Kingdom ends on a KGF-style cliffhanger, but unlike those blockbusters, it fails to deliver a satisfying arc. Grand visuals can’t mask the lack of depth, leaving viewers with a bloated, unsatisfying spectacle.