A shoutout to Jis Joy for venturing outside the feel-good zone even when his last attempt at a thriller didn't work. Thalavan delivers the goods as a police procedural with plenty of characters, their details and dynamics. The first act makes you think it's yet another addition to the Malayalam Ego Clash™ universe. However, Thalavan properly gets going once the main murder plot kicks in. There's an unnecessary song and a mediocre fight sequence following it, but those are the only detractions. Asif Ali is clearly in fine form here, and once again proves his mettle as a performer when he dons the police uniform. Biju Menon is solid too, and since we've already seen him and Asif work together as leads before, their efforts here come across as no surprise. The same goes for much of the supporting cast (ft. Dileesh Pothan, Jaffer Idukki, Miya George, Anushree, etc.), even in instances of weakly written dialogue.
Deepak Dev's musical score makes you invested in the proceedings, though I'd have placed the Thalavan theme song at a different point within the film. The key antagonist gets a meaty arc and a well-established motive, though I wish Jis had exhibited greater finesse in the final reveal. From a writing standpoint, there are several decoys thrown at us. If you're a longtime thriller buff, you should be able to distinguish between an actual lead and a decoy without much fuss. Though this isn't a film with a lot of guns and fist-fights, they could've still done a better job with the stunts. Nonetheless, with all its flaws, the film is worth a watch on the big screen.
