Film
Varathan
A Malayalam thriller about a jobless man and his wife who return to her family's Kerala estate, only to find themselves entangled in escalating tensions with locals. It's a slow-burn suspense film that mines dread from class friction, isolation, and the weight of unspoken resentments. For those who love character-driven thrillers that simmer before they boil.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like slow-burn domestic tension, where a marriage's quiet frictions tighten into something sour, and you don't need the film to explain itself as it goes.
Skip it if you want brisk plotting, since this takes its time settling in before the pressure builds, and its bleakness can feel more punishing than rewarding.
What it asks of you: Settle in for just over two hours, with a slow, close-quartered rhythm and little relief between the tense stretches.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Memories in March2011
A quietly devastating Malayalam family drama that explores buried secrets and the cost of silence within households. It builds emotional pressure through constraint and restraint, much like Varathan does with its mounting tensions.
But Deeply somber and focused on internal pain rather than plot momentum. If you need action or external conflict to stay engaged, this will feel slow.
Angamaly Diaries2017
A visceral Kerala-set thriller about gang violence and moral decay. Like Varathan, it uses regional specificity and an outsider perspective to interrogate class and belonging, with an unflinching eye.
But Considerably grittier and more violent. The handheld camerawork is intentionally destabilizing, which some find immersive and others find exhausting.
Drishyam2013
The original Malayalam version—a masterclass in tension through intelligence rather than spectacle. A man must outthink his antagonists. Like Varathan, it trusts the audience to follow moral complexity without judgment.
But Heavily plot-dependent, so knowing the twist diminishes it. Also a bit schematic compared to Varathan's messier human dynamics.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Varathan
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Come True2020
Both films use a couple's isolation—whether rural or institutional—to explore how proximity breeds suspicion and fear. Here, it's psychological breakdown; in Varathan, it's social pressure. Same pressure cooker, different interior.
A Canadian sci-fi horror film about a man and woman in psychological distress, shot in a deliberately disorienting style. It shares Varathan's interest in intimate relationships under stress, but refocuses it through surrealism and body horror instead of social realism.
But Heavily abstract and nightmarish. If you want grounded narrative, this will feel pretentious and inaccessible. Also genuinely unsettling in ways some find alienating.
More like this (8)
A Gentleman2017
A taut thriller about paranoia and mistrust between a man and woman. It shares Varathan's interest in how relationships curdle under pressure, and how perception becomes unreliable.
But The twist ending divides viewers sharply. Some feel satisfied; others find it unmotivated or gimmicky.
Eerie2019
A Filipino horror-thriller with a similar mood of creeping dread and social unease. It uses setting and atmosphere to suggest danger before anything explicit happens, building paranoia organically.
But Paced very deliberately and relies on mood over incident. The horror elements are suggested rather than shown, which frustrates viewers wanting clearer scares.
Asuran2019
A Tamil film about a man haunted by his past in a rural setting. It explores class violence and male rage with nuance, and features a career-best lead performance that rivals Faasil's work here.
But Graphic violence depicting caste brutality. Not easy to watch, and the pacing is uneven in its second half.
The Invisible Guest2017
A Spanish thriller that plays narrative games—unreliable perspectives, hidden motives, layered revelations. If you loved the cat-and-mouse psychology of Varathan, this scratches that itch at feature length.
But Increasingly dependent on plot twists. By the end, character consistency bends toward the mechanics of surprise.
Ilo Ilo2013
A Singaporean drama about class, migration, and the subtle wars fought within a household. It shares Varathan's eye for how ordinary interactions become charged with unequal power and resentment.
But Virtually no plot in the conventional sense. If you're watching for narrative propulsion, you'll find it frustratingly static.
The Salesman2016
An Iranian thriller about a man drawn into a stranger's crisis. Like Varathan, it examines how outsiders trigger social friction, and how masculine pride can become dangerous when questioned.
But Long, deliberate, and politically oblique. The slow reveal of what actually happened may feel withholding rather than suspenseful.
Under the Skin2014
Like Varathan, it's interested in what happens when a stranger enters a closed community and destabilizes it. But this stranger is literally inhuman, making the threat abstract rather than rooted in class and economics. Same anxiety, opposite scale.
Scarlett Johansson plays an alien seducing men in Glasgow. It's a film about predation, outsiderness, and the invisible threat lurking in everyday spaces. Gorgeous, hypnotic, and deeply unsettling without explaining itself.
But Experimental and deliberately opaque. Long passages have no dialogue. If you need clarity and explanation, you'll hate it. Also slow in ways that test patience.
Possession1981
Both films understand that a marriage can become a locked room where psychological violence replaces words. Varathan achieves this through social realism; Possession does it through expressionist madness. One whispers; one screams. Same suffocation.
Andrzej Żuławski's Polish-French nightmare about a marriage disintegrating in Cold War Berlin. It's maximally strange—operatic, grotesque, sexually charged—but the core is recognizable: two people in a room, things unsaid, everything falling apart.
But Intensely divisive. The acting is deliberately unnatural. The practical effects are grotesque. If you prefer restraint, this will seem hysterical and self-indulgent. Genuinely challenging to sit through.
People
Cast
Fahadh FaasilAbin
Aishwarya LekshmiPriya
SharafudheenJosy
Dileesh PothanBenni
Arjun AshokanJohnny
V. T. VijileshJithin
Chethan JayalalPreman
Kochu Preman'Ondhu'
Unnimaya PrasadPreman's Mother
Mamitha BaijuSandra
Nisthar AhamedKurian Pappalli- Ramakrishnan PerumbavoorIype Contractor
Directing
- Amal NeeradDirector
Writing
- Vinayak SasikumarLyricist
- SharfuddeenWriter
- SuhasWriter
Production
- Amal NeeradProducer
- Fahadh FaasilProducer
- Nazriya NazimProducer