The pace is studied but there's plenty to see, not just in Santosh's compelling quest for answers but in two performances of remarkable restraint and subtlety, from Goswami as the titular widow and Rajwar as her superior.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 1, 2025

One of the film’s most impressive triumphs is its use of non-actors, who slip seamlessly into the screen and make you question where performance ends and reality begins.

| Mar 25, 2025

As well as working rivetingly as a procedural thriller and a psychological study, Santosh has a hard, documentary-like edge, exploring Indian social phenomena with intense analytical focus.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 24, 2025

A tough, sinewy, satisfying film.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 22, 2025

It’s a slow, detailed procedural, one which carefully draws you into its dismal intrigue – and it’s engrossing for much of its runtime.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 20, 2025

Goswami is superb, but it’s a film full of minutely nuanced performances with a compellingly sombre message.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 20, 2025

Though it’s the gripping murder-mystery that hooks viewers, it’s Suri’s intelligent and keenly observed social commentary where Santosh shines the brightest.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 17, 2025

...a film that cinematically may seem conventional in terms of its staging and development, but ultimately stands out for its fascinating portrayal of environments (unfamiliar, overwhelming, and revealing) in a neo-noir style. [Full review in Spanish]

| Mar 14, 2025

The case is extremely crude , the investigation is tense and disturbing, and it also features brilliant performances by Shahana Goswani and Sunita Rajwar. [Full review in Spanish]

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 12, 2025

Goswami is a perfect vehicle for Suri’s understated, seething indictment of the root-and-branch corruption of this small Northern Indian town.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 31, 2025

Undeniably powerful.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 29, 2025

The notion of “just following” orders is put into a unique perspective in Santhosh thanks to a non-traditional police cast of women in a non-traditional Muslim setting.

| Jan 21, 2025

Suri weaves a fantastic script that truly does lull us into the copaganda inherent to a police officer being in the lead. Goswami is great in the lead role because we always see her compassion—even when the darkness too many others trade in takes hold.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 17, 2025

Santosh grows into her new identity even as the odds remain stacked against her.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Jan 16, 2025

If the film sometimes feels a bit draggy, especially as it turns very dark, it's also riveting simply because it's so tightly focussed on a young woman's experience. And it wrestles with some huge issues.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 14, 2025

To watch “Santosh” is to feel the undeniable power of a discerning, resonant case study.

| Jan 13, 2025

Hillege’s photography will have you choking on the dust and sweating in the heat. The acting is excellent all around, led by the extraordinary Shahana Goswani as Santosh and Sunita Rajwar as a very complex Sharma.

| Jan 11, 2025

Sandhya Suri's Santosh may feel a little long in the tooth in parts, but largely soars thanks to its gripping and refreshing take on its story.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Jan 10, 2025

an indelible portrait of a woman embracing power for the first time only to face disillusionment of the worst kind, her own involvement in a terrible injustice.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 8, 2025

Securing audience investment in morally grim characters, that’s the ultimate signal a movie like Santosh is doing something right.

| Jan 7, 2025