Curry and Cyanide: The Jolly Joseph case, which is helmed by Christo Tomy, delves into the Koodathayi Murders, a real-life incident that took place in Koodathayi, Kerala, where a lady named Jolly Joseph is accused of killing six family members, including her spouse.
In Kerala’s Koodathayi, six people passed away inexplicably between 2002 and 2014. Two of them had tight ties to the same family, while the remaining four were relatives. They were allegedly killed with cyanide in 2019, and Jolly Joseph, a middle-aged woman, was taken into custody.
Curry and Cyanide Jolly Joseph Case: Narrative
Kerala’s Koodathayi town was taken aback when the police arrived to detain Jolly Joseph on suspicion of murder. Not far behind was the nation. As more information came to light during the trial, it became increasingly difficult to dispute that this was nothing more than a multi-year conspiracy of cold-blooded murder. Jolly Joseph is accused of using cyanide to poison several family members, including her husband and in-laws. The youngest fatality, a two-year-old, was the most horrible detail.
In an effort to put together a picture of a killer, the documentary reconstructs the incidents that preceded the killings. Jolly Joseph: Who was she? Why did she do it? How did she manage to escape?
Curry and Cyanide the Jolly Joseph Case: A Review
True crime documentaries have become more popular recently, much like in the West. The most recent Netflix original series to reveal a darker side to an apparently normal individual is Curry & Cyanide. Since the surviving family members must learn to live with what happened, their testimonials are particularly sombre. Renji, Jolly’s sister-in-law, made some extremely heart-breaking remarks. It’s never an easy choice to accuse a family member of a horrible act.
Despite being a compelling account of what happened, Jolly Joseph’s voice is absent from the documentary. Naturally, given the status of her case, it is challenging to obtain that at this time.
Beginning with the purported murder of Jolly’s mother-in-law, Annamma Joseph, the documentary delves into the events that transpired in her family between 2002 and 2016. Through testimonies from family members, the case’s investigating officer, researchers, etc., the story of Jolly’s connection with her late husband Roy Thomas, how it ended in marriage, and what may have been her motivations for each murder, is made clear. A systematic analysis aims to provide additional context for individuals who may be perplexed as to how or why someone could commit such heinous acts, even though the majority of the facts are well known to the general public. Whether they were able to accomplish it, though, is a different story.
Many questions remain unanswered : As the case is still going on
The documentary also, whether intentionally or inadvertently, highlights the numerous holes in the case and raises a number of concerns for viewers, including why there were never any post-mortems conducted, why no one ever raised a voice against Jolly for more than ten years despite being practically present at every crime scene, and what her real motivations were.
Christo Tomy directed, and Shalini Usha devi wrote the Netflix series. Curry & Cyanide aims to collect the evidence that will prove its target guilty while also attempting to present a psychological profile of the subject.
Director Tomy and his colleagues arrange a number of talking heads in the absence of an impartial probe. Although emotional, the testimonies of Renji, her brother Roji, and Joseph’s son Remo talk more about the dynamics of the family than they do regarding Joseph’s guilt.
Renji correctly points out that the trust that exists within families is what made Joseph’s false claims about her degree and profession acceptable. But why didn’t the cops carry out the potentially life-saving excavation? The show doesn’t ask retired police officer KG Simon, one of its prominent witnesses, this question.
There are still a number of unanswered questions. Why did Joseph’s surroundings keep dying even after she was widely suspected of being a suspect? The toxicologist working on the case, VV Pillay, notes that it’s typical to blame the spouse when someone has cyanide poisoning. Given their tendency to draw judgements too quickly, how did the cops miss this fundamental truth?
Is it worth watching?
It’s relatively short, at one hour and thirty-five minutes. The audience is left feeling let down by the sudden and hurried nature of some parts of the conclusion.
Being open-ended in true crime documentaries is one thing. If the storyline holds their interest long enough, fans of the genre sometimes overlook unresolved conclusions. But in this case, it seems impossible to avoid the impression that not enough material was available to support a well-rounded movie in the first place.
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