Nizhal

Despite a smooth, flowing and aesthetically pleasing narrative style from debutant director Appu N Bhattathiri and an earnest lead performance from Kunchacko Boban, a simplistic, unsatisfactory climax reduces Nizhal to a below-average watch.

Kunchacko Boban stars as a judge who takes interest in a strange case while recovering from a bout of PTSD following an accident. Nayanthara's character comes into his life as a stereotypical single mom who in desperate need of a saviour for her troubled son,

In a criminally underwritten role, an actor of Nayanthara's stature is reduced to a one-dimensional caricature and it makes you wonder why she even opted for this movie.

What promises to be a psychological thriller loses itself slowly as it delves into the supernatural, due to half-baked and unconvincing writing.

While there have been many success stories of murder investigations clubbed with elements of the supernatural (Pretham, Ezra etc), this isn't one.

In the new Golden age of Malayalam thrillers of the likes of Anjaam Paathiraa, Operation Java and Drishyam 2, this is just a pale, uninspiring attempt.

Not recommended.

The child actor .Izin Hash is so brilliant. But the movie falters with funny CGI. The execution on screen is lackluster. The pacing is extremely slow for a thriller. A lot of time is wasted before the exciting things begin to happen.

The movie from the release of its first look had created an excitement in movie buffs. But the fact is that it couldn't break the expectation level. The first half was very impressive and it seemed to be a new plot. The viewers who moved to the second half with great anxiety were disappointed as the movie ended as a normal film with many questions remaining unanswered. For a film with such a good start deserves better a tail end. But the direction and photography are appreciable. The bgm was nice as it could create a psycho mood. Also the casting is perfect and each and every actor even those who appear only for a single scene have done their part very well...

A weak attempt at creating a psychological thriller, Nizhal feels drab from its very first shot - doused in bizarre-looking CGI. The core plot does intrigue, but there's an entire act dedicated to the protagonist's PTSD which gets conveniently ignored and has zero payoffs in the end. What was even the point? The mask, the rains, the atrociously loud background score - all of it feels gimmicky as hell. Nayanthara is criminally underutilized here - there's nothing in Nizhal that truly challenges the actor in return for a nice, fat paycheck. The script contains psychological thriller elements but the way they're visualized on-screen is lacklustre. I'm disappointed by Appu N Bhattathiri's directorial debut - this is clearly no edge-of-the-seat thriller.

How does a 7 year old, innocent schoolchild know the specifics of crimes which transpired 25 years ago? Has someone been feeding him these stories? Does his dead father communicate with him? Why does a man wearing a 'batman' like mask befriend the boy? Malayalam movie #Nizhal is supposed to be a whodunit, but the slow pace is a downer. Running time should be reduced by 20 minutes. Cinematography n performances r good. Rating 2.5/5.