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While we were making the best movies list of 2019 for our insta page on film reviews (filmypeanuts), many people asked us why we omitted Helen from the list. Helen was an edgy survival thriller, and a well-made film, that too by a debutant. Agreed. But there was something off about it. For us, it was mostly the deliberate dramatic manipulations of the scenes in an attempt to add to the thrill that compromised the realism to some extent. On that note, let's talk about Sullu, a Malayalam movie released in late 2019 and certainly one that unfortunately went unnoticed.

Written and directed by Vishnu Bharadwaj, the 12th new director introduced by the production company Friday Film House, Sullu is a survival thriller released on November 22, 2019, a week later than Helen. We feel this was the most unfortunate part about the movie since both of them fell in identical genres, and directed by debutants. But what makes Sullu different and a cut above is it's uncompromising way of stitching scenes together. Not for once did Vishnu Bharadwaj shy away from taking on the challenge off giving the story a natural progression (without any coincidences that we can see coming). The story cuts to the chase and directly enters the core situation and builds all characters around this one premise. But the star of the show is none other than Vasudev who portrayed the 9-year old Jithu with deep conviction and realism. Stigin Starview's cinematography and Stephen Mathew's editing were spot on while the supporting cast excelled at their parts. At 103 minutes, this movie is racy, emotionally engaging, and did deserve far more box office recognition. Definitely give this one a shot.