Antarjal (2023) [Film Review] — Dipankar’s Cyber-Thriller Stumbles Despite Siam’s Strong Turn

Movie: Antarjal

Director: Dipankar Dipon

Writers: Sheikh Lokman Galib, Md Saifullah Riad (also credited: Dipankar Dipon).

Cast: Siam Ahmed, Bidya Sinha Saha, Abm Sumon, Masud Ahmed, Do Yeon Ahn, Shafiul Alam Babu, Mohammad Bari, Dipankar Dipon, Sanju John.

Release date: 22 September 2023 (theatrical).

Overall Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Synopsis — high concept, familiar beats

A bank hack, three young coders, and a chase to stop a widescale cyber-raid.

Antarjal opens with a dramatic cyber-assault: Green Bangla Bank’s servers are compromised, and account balances read zero, launching a public panic and a layered investigation. Two officers—Nishat and ASP Rayhan—follow digital crumbs toward three talented youths who created a coveted security tool. The film asks: Will the investigators find the trio before outside forces weaponize their invention? The premise is undeniably contemporary and promising for Bangladeshi cinema—cybercrime mapped onto familiar procedural rhythms—but the execution strains under the weight of competing ambitions.

Strengths — technical ambition and committed acting

What Antarjal does right.

The film’s strongest card is its technical imagination. For a local industry still developing infrastructure for visual effects and slick sound design, Antarjal’s depiction of cyber tools, the use of automation concepts, and the integration of a techno-thriller aesthetic feel unusually polished. The background score and production design help sustain tension in scenes that could otherwise feel dry. Performances are another asset: Siam Ahmed carries the film with a steady screen presence, and the younger actors bring sincerity to their roles. Supporting turns add credibility to the film’s world, and there are moments where the movie’s premise yields genuine dramatic electricity.

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Weaknesses — thin character work and uneven pacing

Where the film fails to fully deliver.

Despite its technical polish, Antarjal falters narratively. Character motivations—especially around the central trio and the budding romance noted in the plot—often feel sketched rather than lived-in, which undercuts emotional stakes. The chemistry intended between Siam Ahmed’s character and his counterpart never convincingly takes hold; crucial conflicts among the young coders come off as contrived beats written to service plot rather than organic friction. Pacing is uneven: procedural beats that should ratchet suspense sometimes stall in exposition, and scenes that require emotional payoff get too little time to land. The script’s tendency to tell rather than show leaves the audience grasping for a reason to care beyond the novelty of cyber-terminology.

Direction & Writing — notable pedigree, mixed results

A director with awards to his name struggles to balance scope and depth.

Dipankar Dipon arrives with a strong résumé, and the film wears its ambitions proudly. Yet the screenplay—shared among Dipon, Lokman Galib, and Saifullah Riad—rarely probes below plot mechanics to complex human consequences. The result is a film that looks confident and sounds modern but often avoids the interior life of its characters. In a genre that needs both technical clarity and moral urgency, Antarjal delivers one more consistently than the other.

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Verdict — an important step, not a complete arrival

A milestone in intent with room to grow.

Antarjal is a significant and sometimes thrilling experiment for Bangladeshi cinema: it proves local storytellers can imagine tech-driven narratives with production value. But imagination alone isn’t enough. The movie’s technical wins and committed performances are dampened by weak character development and an uneven script. For viewers curious about cybercrime framed in a South Asian context, it’s worth seeing; for those seeking a tight, emotionally resonant thriller, Antarjal will feel like a promising draft rather than a finished manifesto.