Ring Ring Movie Review : A birthday party where everyone gets exposed

Ring Ring Movie Synopsis: Four couples gather for a birthday party, where one friend’s accusation about phone secrets transforms a casual instance of truth-or-dare into a nightlong inquisition, forcing everyone to reveal their private lives.

Ring Ring Movie Review: A single-location film should at least explore something novel or feature an interesting lead who drives intensity. Even in confined settings, rich production values can elevate the narrative - props become story elements, and characters develop through psychology, gradually revealing deeper layers beneath their surface. While this approach works especially well in horrors or mysteries - as seen in recent films like Heretic or even Jeeva’s Black - these principles can enhance any genre. Ring Ring lacks all of these: its concept strains credibility, character interactions turn hostile without reason, and the couples remain stuck at a dinner table playing a game that overstays its welcome.

The film opens with a clumsy sequence in Kathir’s (Daniel Annie Pope) apartment. Fancying himself a romeo, he juggles two relationships, and when one girlfriend rings the doorbell one morning, he scrambles to hide the other, who’s sleeping beside him. The scene aims for comedy but lands in cringe territory - setting up a film where the men maintain multiple affairs while the women harbor their own secrets. At Shiva’s birthday celebration, Thyagu (Vivek Prasanna), a lawyer who regularly berates his wife Shailaja (Swayam), becomes Kathir’s target. A self-defense mechanism, Kathir taunts Thyagu about hiding things on his phone, daring him to show his notifications. Determined not to be singled out, Thyagu pulls everyone else in, turning it into a game: all notifications and calls must be shared publicly, revealing what lurks in each person’s closet. Predictably, everyone, including the women, gets exposed.

Ring Ring suffers from fundamental problems. Who stays at a dinner table playing such a tiresome game without walking out? Why do these supposed friends turn a minor incident into an inquisition against Thyagu? It feels forced, with no underlying reason to push it this far. Friends typically protect each other’s indiscretions rather than forcing exposures. Building an entire narrative around phone calls and notifications feels shallow. Combined with meaningless dialogue, the same setting, and overreliance on their device, the film loses any purpose as a visual medium. The women serve merely as context for male infidelity until the final act, though the men themselves offer little more. The convenient timing of damning calls and messages strains belief. Multiple close-ups during conversations suggest an attempt to reveal hidden emotions, but only adds to the tedium.

Vivek Prasanna delivers his part with quick wit. He has good chemistry with his partner, Swayam Siddha. Sakshi Agarwal looks striking but gets limited scope. Daniel Annie Pope adequately plays his role as the annoying, hyperactive friend.

Ring Ring wants to be an intimate chamber drama about relationships and secrets. But like its trapped dinner guests, it never finds a way to make the evening worthwhile.

Written By: Abhinav Subramanian