Film

Shylock

Name: Shylock
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Released: 2020
Cast: Mammootty, Rajkiran, Meena, Hareesh Perumanna, Kalabhavan Shajon

Con-artist caper

Shylock is a Malayalam action thriller centred on a ruthless moneylender navigating betrayal, moral compromise, and calculated revenge. Mammootty commands the screen with quiet intensity as a man operating in moral grey zones. It's propulsive and darkly stylish, built on the kind of tense cat-and-mouse games that reward your attention. For viewers who relish character-driven thrillers with genuine stakes.

TMDb rating

1.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like a cat-and-mouse battle of wits between two hard, calculating men, where the tension lives in negotiation and menace rather than in long explanations.

Skip it if you prefer quiet, slow-burn character studies, because this one leans on swagger, showy confrontations and a lead performance pitched for big-screen spectacle.

What it asks of you: About two hours and ten minutes of sustained tension, with plotting that rewards close attention and few quiet moments to breathe.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Natrang2010

A Malayalam masterpiece about obsession and performance, featuring Jai Bhim's Nayanthara's husband in a role that demands everything. Like Shylock, it's a study of a man consumed by his own ambitions and the cost of that hunger.

But It's slow-burn and deliberately theatrical. The first hour tests patience; some find the artificiality distancing rather than engaging.

Memories in March2011

A deeply intelligent Malayalam film about grief, identity, and the stories we tell ourselves. Mammootty gives one of his finest performances. Like Shylock, it explores how power and secrecy warp human relationships.

But It's intimate and introspective where you might want kinetic. The emotional weight takes time to build, and it won't give you action-film satisfaction.

The Great Father2017

Mammootty plays a father bent on violent justice for his daughter. It shares Shylock's fascination with honour, masculinity, and what drives a man to become something terrible in service of principle.

But It veers into melodrama and operates on pure emotion rather than logic. The moral certainty can feel simplistic compared to Shylock's ambiguity.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Shylock

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

A Prophet2009

Both are studies of protagonists climbing hierarchies through cunning and performance, morally compromised but compelling.

A French film about a young man's education inside prison, learning to survive by intelligence and manipulation. Like Shylock, it's about watching a protagonist master a closed world's rules and leverage them. Both films are about power accrual in systems designed to crush you.

But It's lengthy and linguistically demanding. The prison setting is claustrophobic; viewers wanting release or lightness won't find it.

Drishyam2013

A Malayalam thriller about a man using intelligence and planning to navigate an impossible situation. It's a chess match between the powerful and the desperate, exactly Shylock's register.

But The twist is famous now. If you know it, the film's primary pleasure—the reveal—is gone entirely.

Chandni Bar2001

A raw, unflinching Indian drama about survival, corruption, and the systems that consume people. Like Shylock, it refuses moral easy answers and commits to its ugliness.

But It's genuinely difficult viewing. The violence and exploitation are depicted frankly. Some will find it exploitative despite its intentions.

Angamaly Diaries2017

A Malayalam film that follows crime and masculine pride through interconnected stories. It has Shylock's sense of a world with its own brutal logic and codes.

But It's formless and digressive. The structure can feel chaotic; viewers wanting a tight plot will find it scattered and sometimes opaque.

Udta Punjab2016

An angry, energetic Indian thriller about addiction, corruption, and survival. It shares Shylock's refusal to make its world safe or its characters likeable.

But The social-issue messaging sometimes overwhelms the character work. It can feel didactic rather than dramatically inevitable.

Memories of Murder2003

Both films use investigations and deceptions to explore how power corrupts the people who chase it.

A Korean thriller where obsession, loyalty, and the gaps between what we know and what we believe drive everything. It shares Shylock's refusal to offer easy answers or moral comfort. Bong Joon-ho's masterpiece operates in the same register of sophisticated unease.

But It's a serial-killer procedural without the catharsis of resolution. Some viewers will find the ambiguous ending frustrating or unsatisfying.