Satyajit Ray concludes the Calcutta Trilogy by tracing the downward spiral of a promising young man. After failing to enter the corporate workforce, Somnath (Pradip Mukherjee) strikes out on his own as a “middleman” and quickly discovers how much greasing is needed to turn the wheels of commerce. A panoramic underworld film, The Middleman starkly depicts the predatory snake pit of corrupt hustlers and traffickers who populate Calcutta’s crowded margins as Somnath slowly transitions from dealing in stationery and industrial chemicals to seedier merchandise.