Quirks, Misfires & Creative Crimes: Malayalam Cinema In 2025
From the most pointless plot twists to spectacular miscasting, 2025 delivered its fair share of films that tried too hard, said too little, and occasionally owed the audience an apology.
Last Updated: 07.32 PM, Dec 30, 2025
IF THE YEAR 2025 revealed anything, it was a growing confusion between ambition and excess. These films weren’t short on ideas, budgets, or intent, but too often mistook noise for nuance and provocation for purpose. This list maps the moments where Malayalam cinema overreached, misjudged itself, or briefly forgot who it was speaking to.
1) The most pointless plot twists of the year | Mirage:
A young woman’s search for her missing fiancé opens a Pandora’s box of dark alleys and buried secrets. But Jeethu Joseph’s mystery thriller overplays its hand, piling twist upon twist until intrigue gives way to fatigue, and you find yourself simply waiting for it to end.
2) The film that tries to be everything and becomes nothing | Pravinkoodu Shappu:
A murder at a toddy shop leaves eleven suspects in play, setting up an investigation populated by quirky characters. The Agatha Christie-ish promise, satirical humour, and inventive staging suggest something sharper. Still, the film ultimately flounders, undone by its own over-cleverness, despite the impressive technical support behind it.
3) The most miscast of the year | Eko:
Given the careful buildup and layered writing of Kuriachan in Eko (The Infinite Chronicles of Kuriachan), casting a Hindi-speaking (lip sync is awry), relatively unfamiliar actor feels like a misstep. Saurabh Sachdeva neither commands the gravitas the role demands nor convinces in scenes opposite his elderly wife, thereby weakening a character meant to anchor the film.
4) Female character that deserved more agency | Shobana in Thudarum:
Despite the fanfare around the Shobana–Mohanlal reunion, the film draws her character in broad, vague strokes, confining her to the familiar spaces of wife and mother. And what’s worse is how her humiliation becomes a convenient trigger for the hero’s revenge, making it especially dispiriting to see an actor of Shobana’s stature reduced to a narrative prop.
5) Script that should have stayed in the draft folder | Aabhyanthara Kuttavali:
The film positions itself as a counterpoint to the idea that all men are inherently culpable, thereby suggesting that women can also misuse the legal safeguards. However, in pursuing this idea, the narrative slips into broad generalisations, choosing to demonise women rather than engage with the issue in any nuanced or responsible manner.
6) The film that owed the audience an apology | Oru Jaathi Jathakam:
A remarkably tone-deaf film that cloaks its blatant mockery of the LGBTQ+ community in the guise of comedy. Regressive and offensive, it threatens to drag Malayalam cinema back into the dark ages.
7) Music that made the film bearable | Painkili:
Justin Varghese’s score does the heavy lifting in a movie otherwise weighed down by absurdity. With Vinayak’s witty, playful lyrics, the music becomes a connective tissue, holding together the madness and lending rhythm to a plot that constantly threatens to spiral.
8) When Malayalam cinema said sit down, I will show you how it’s done | Lokah:
At a time when grandeur alone seemed to guarantee box-office success, Lokah: Chapter 1 - Chandra quietly rewrote the rulebook. Rooted in Kerala folklore and smartly budgeted, its vampire myth unfolds with wit, mystery, and a gripping energy that makes it an effortless entertainer.
9) The villain who ate …and left no crumbs | Mammootty in Kalamkaval:
What ultimately lends Kalamkaval, which is often weighed down by its slow pace and loosely stitched screenplay, a sense of urgency is the singular presence of Mammootty as Stanley Das, a deceptively soft-spoken, middle-aged psychopath whose violence is deeply unsettling. It is the nuances and subtle shadings he brings to the role that help in overlooking the screenplay’s gaps. Despite Vinayakan headlining the narrative, Mammootty unmistakably owns the film.
10) Performative feminism award | Manju Warrier in L2-Empuraan:
Even in Lucifer, the effort to give Manju Warrier’s Priyadarshini Ramdas depth felt half-hearted, with the character ultimately circling back to Stephen Nedumpally. The sequel only makes this more apparent, dressing her up as a figure of conviction while still depending on Stephen for salvation.
