Tourist Family

Director Abishan Jeevinth skillfully explores themes of humanity and connection amid adversity, showcasing a diverse ensemble cast that delivers impactful performances.

Tourist Family scores heavily on the humour front, and these moments also make you think of how willing audiences are just to forget everything and laugh with a film. The jokes keep on coming, and they elicit different types of laughter. Some are guffaws, some are chuckles, and some might just bring out a wide smile. Beneath all those jokes, one-liners, and quality gags, there is a loud cry for the world to just be accommodative to the sidelined, and lend an ear to the problems of the oppressed. It simply asks why go out of our way to ostracise when we can just stay in our lanes and embrace our differences. While there are throwaway lines about the Sri Lankan issue, Tourist Family is that kind of a film where differences might not seem magnified, but solutions are utopian.

Usually, that would work against a film; the emotional tug-of-war often leaves audiences unanchored, unable to fully connect with what the film wants them to feel. But here, those jarring shifts are wielded smartly. Right after an intense father-son confrontation, brimming with monologues that tug at the heart, we get a completely unexpected and utterly hilarious dance routine from the three men of the family. It throws you off, yes, but in the best way. Similarly, just before a cleverly placed callback to Simran’s dancing nostalgia, there’s an understated romantic beat—one of the better-written scenes in recent times—that serves no grand purpose in the larger narrative yet leaves you with a gentle warmth. Tourist Family swings between grief and serendipity, pathos and harmless, mindless humour, and in doing so, Abishan and his cast manage to walk a tightrope with remarkable ease.

Tourist Family is a wonderful tale from Abishan Jeevinth which reiterates, yet again, that one must love one's neighbour and humanity above all.