'Level Cross' movie review: Oscillates between the outlandish and the mundane

As Chaithali tries to escape the endlessly undulating sands of the Sahara in Arfaz Ayub’s debut feature Level Cross, one might think this film would be a survival thriller, but it is far from that. Set in an imaginary world, as the director wants us to believe with its unlikely proceedings, Level Cross first establishes the limitlessness of the scarcely inhabited space as a character. It then introduces us to the everyday routine of a lonely railway gatekeeper, Reghu, living in a house near the level crossing. Despite coming from two extremes of the social spectrum, Chaithali warms to Reghu’s seemingly kind-hearted gestures after initially being wary of him.