Accused Review: Slick Visuals, Hollow Story in Netflix Drama
Director: Anubhuti Kashyap
Cast: Konkona Sen Sharma, Pratibha Ranta, Sukant Goel, Mashhoor Amrohi
My Rating: 4.0/10
Release Date: February 27, 2026
The Verdict Box
Accused is a polished-looking production with nothing inside it - the visuals are slick, the locations expensive, and the costumes immaculate - but all of it masks a story that is timid, hollow, and occasionally absurd, where it treats same-sex marriage like a relic, hesitant to acknowledge anything beyond perfunctory nods, as if the filmmakers have never seen a modern HR policy, a contemporary hospital protocol, or frankly, a competent script.
The Full Review: A Surgical Flatline
Netflix gave Anubhuti Kashyap and writers Sima Agarwal and Yash Keswani the budget to make what could have been a slick, modern thriller about the Indian diaspora in London, and they even hired Konkona Sen Sharma, a legendary actor, to anchor it., and yet, watching Accused is like watching a medical drama performed entirely with mannequins - there’s posture and polish, but zero life.
Konkona plays Dr. Geetika Sen, a rich, high-achieving lesbian surgeon whose primary hobby seems to be humiliating everyone around her, where she calls her colleagues’ work “a bloody disaster” and generally carries herself as if the hospital is her personal kingdom.
Her wife, Meera (Pratibha Ranta), is a younger pediatrician who is perpetually frustrated that Geetika is late to dinner parties, and the conflict arises when an anonymous patient accuses Geetika of sexual misconduct during an exam - cue social media outrage - racist, sexist, and homophobic comments pour in - and suddenly Geetika’s perfectly curated world starts to wobble.
The first problem I noticed is that while the social media pile-on feels unnervingly real, the investigation is a joke, as the hospital hires an ex-journalist (Mashhoor Amrohi) to conduct an “independent probe” because the HR director (Monica Mahendru) is apparently too tolerant of Geetika’s abusive behavior.
The idea is suspenseful, in theory, but in practice, it’s as engaging as watching a spreadsheet fill out in real time, as there’s no tension, no stakes, just convenient coincidences guiding the plot toward a predetermined conclusion, where the script seems terrified of its own subject matter.
Same-sex marriage is treated as a secret to be tiptoed around as well, as the plot points like breaking the news to a cousin so he can inform family in India feel quaint and outdated - The Wedding Banquet did this thirty years ago - and it was charming because it had warmth and wit.
Accused executes the same beats with timidity, as if afraid to acknowledge Geetika and Meera as real, complex adults, and I didn’t find it daring enough, as I found it stubbornly timid.
Also read my Hedda Review, Undercard Review, and I Saw The TV Glow Review.
Performance Analysis: Caricatures in Lab Coats
Konkona Sen Sharma is one of India’s best actors, yet here she’s trapped in a one-note role, as Geetika is supposed to be multi-dimensional: brilliant, vulnerable, flawed, ambitious, and human, but instead she’s reduced to a stereotype - sharp-tongued, impatient, and superficially scandalous - I liked her occasional moments of quiet exasperation, which hint at a more interesting character, but they are fleeting, as most of the time, she’s either bitchy or defensive, with little room for nuance.
Pratibha Ranta as Meera is equally hampered where she spends the movie reacting - annoyed, frustrated, concerned - without ever driving the story forward, and her decision to hire a private investigator (Sukant Goel) is presented as clever, yet it’s obvious to anyone who breathes air that she’s being played by her own narrative blind spots.
Mashhoor Amrohi’s journalist is similarly static, acting as a plot device rather than a character, and every supporting performance is weighted toward caricature - the “angry HR director,” the “curious ex,” the “anonymous accuser.” - where the the melodrama was so consistent it became almost comical.
By the midpoint, I realized the film had no interest in letting these characters exist as people, as they are tokens, moving pieces in a procedural chess game, with zero internal logic or emotional depth - I didn’t dislike the actors, I disliked the space they were given to perform.
The “Imagined” London
The production design is good to be fair, where London is glossy, polished, and photogenic, vut here’s the thing - the filmmakers seem to have no understanding of how any of these professional spaces operate, because every scene in a boardroom, HR office, or investigation feels like someone imagined it and said, “Yeah, that’ll do.”
The costumes are expensive, the interiors pristine, and the lighting perfect, but none of it compensates for the narrative absurdity.
I found myself increasingly aware of how much the film wanted to look good rather than make sense, as there’s polish everywhere, but no pulse - like a cake that looks like it should taste amazing but is dry inside.
Queer Section: The “Forbidden Fruit” Problem
Accused markets itself as queer cinema, but it treats its own central romance like a secret shame, where Geetika and Meera are depicted as lovers who can’t speak openly, even in private, and their intimacy is hinted at in gestures and fleeting looks, but nothing is explored meaningfully.
You quickly notice that the relationship functions more as a plot prop - a reason for gossip, conflict, and moral judgment, but not human complexity.
The film’s "daring" angle - introducing social media outrage and HR investigation - feels quaint, and modern queer audiences in 2026 have seen stories where same-sex love, professional ambition, and societal challenges intersect with nuance and intelligence.
This movie does none of that though, as it replaces boldness with restraint, tension with cliché, and human emotion with procedural shorthand.
Ending Explained
The Investigation: The ex-journalist’s independent probe is a narrative dead-end, and the story relies on coincidences and character forgetfulness rather than logic or suspense.
The Reveal: Geetika’s personal secrets - including a former restaurateur lover (Kallirroi Tziafeta) - emerge in the least interesting way imaginable, and the mystery dissolves before it has a chance to matter.
The Fallout: Social media outrage results in the loss of a promotion and a blow to personal privacy, and it all ends up as a melodrama without insight.
The Resolution: The conclusion is just as timid as the opening, as it gestures at consequences and conflict without ever interrogating them, and the unwanted attention online is framed as shocking and unprecedented, ignoring the last twenty years of cultural and cinematic conversations.
Accused FAQ
Is Accused based on a true story?
No. It borrows the surface-level aesthetics of #MeToo without legal or psychological depth.
Where was Accused filmed?
On location in London. Ironically, this makes the lack of realism in professional settings even more baffling.
Is it a Hindi or English film?
Mostly Hindi, despite being set in a London hospital with English-speaking staff.
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