Are we ever able to escape our true destiny? If we are meant to take a certain path, no matter how hard we try to deviate from it, will fate ultimately bring us back to it? It’s a theoretical concept, of course, but one that storytelling has gone back to reflect on time and time again. India-made Bokshi explores this concept with heavy themes of folklore, bullying, and even progressive feminism in a gorgeous, but bloated folk horror tale.

Teenager Anahita (Prasanna Bisht) is struggling with the death of her mother, suffering from nightmares, insomnia, and PTSD stemming from her grief. Her father and grandmother are of no help, admonishing her for her troubles, and to make matters worse, she’s relentlessly bullied at school. When Anahita’s family discovers Anahita has begun to practice in rituals they deem as black magic, they hastily send her away to boarding school.

Once there, Anahita quickly becomes drawn to, and emotionally invested in a history club led by teacher Shalini (Mansi Multani), who tells of an ancient labyrinth and temple (which just so happen to resemble those she has had dreams of) deep in the woods. When she learns of an upcoming field trip to trek out to explore these structures, she begs Shalini to allow her to go as well.

The second act of the film focuses primarily on the aforementioned trip, which takes the students and their teacher deep into the beautiful and ethereal forests of the Himalayas. Along the way, the group encounters locals who regale them with  practices based on their beliefs, and the deeper they ascend into the woods, the more troubling their findings become. There’s statues of feminine deities, ancient rituals, and a push and pull against the old beliefs of those who dwell here, versus those more progressive ones of the “city folk” who have entered these grounds.

All the while, we dive deeper into what draws Anahita to this area, and explore some of her more latent and repressed desires. It isn’t until the third act of the film, whose run time sits at two and a half hours, before the action ramps up enough for it to feel truly horrific.

Bokshi is a movie chock full of beauty, folklore, and captivating cinematography, but plagued by a plodding second and third act, and a script in desperate need of editing  Director Bhargav Saikai has some impressively big, foundational ideas on what makes a good horror movie, but seems to fall short on knowing what needs to be on the chopping block to make it concise.

By the time we get to the really terrifying moments, we feel so bogged down by elongated scenes of characters conversing about the same repetitive topics, that we have begun to lose interest. Which is a shame, because there is an incredibly notable and uniquely horrific creature design that is brought in far too late and is underutilized.

Still, the performances from the cast, most notably Bisht, who gives a compelling and sympathetic portrayal, are stellar. The camera work is also excellent, giving us plenty of eye-popping outdoor visuals, while also saturating the lens in deep reds to emphasize the action. It just plainly drags in the middle, taking the audience out of what could have gripped them the entire time.