Film
Villain
Other titles called Villain: the 1971 film.
A veteran cop returns from leave only to retire, then gets pulled into investigating a triple murder—including a fellow officer—that somehow implicates him. Mohanlal's weary intelligence carries this Malayalam thriller, which trades bombast for methodical plotting and moral ambiguity. It's for anyone who loves a mystery that doesn't telegraph its answers.
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Drishyam2013
Another Malayalam thriller where a clever man must outthink the police to protect what matters. It builds from intimate family drama into a chess match of strategy and revelation, with Mohanlal delivering quiet intensity.
But The ending has divided viewers—some find it brilliant, others feel it bends plausibility. Subtitled films aren't for everyone.

The Usual Suspects1995
A mystery built on misdirection where the detective and audience are played against each other, and everything you thought you knew reshuffles in the final act. Sharp dialogue, sharper structure.
But The twist can feel gimmicky on rewatches. Some find it prioritizes cleverness over character.

Memories of Murder2003
A Korean investigation film where cops hunt a serial killer through rural 1980s chaos. It's moody, procedural, and explores how institutional pressure and personal obsession warp judgment and justice.
But It's slow and pessimistic. The ending won't satisfy anyone looking for closure or catharsis.

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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Z1969
Both films pivot on the idea that institutions use their machinery to obscure truth rather than serve it. The guilty party isn't a criminal—it's the structure itself.
A Costa-Gavras political thriller about covering up an assassination and the investigation that threatens to expose it. It's the godparent of every 'the system is rotten' police mystery—urgently made, formally inventive, and lean.
But It's from 1969, in French, and the style of editing and pacing is dated. Its politics can feel didactic by modern standards.

More like this (7)
Article 152019
An Indian police procedural about a principled officer investigating crimes no one wants solved. Like Villain, it asks whether the system itself is the real culprit, with strong performances and a refusal to simplify.
But The social commentary can feel heavy-handed. At nearly three hours, it tests patience in places.

Andhadhun2018
A blind pianist gets entangled in a murder, and nothing—not his innocence, not the narrative—is what it seems. Twisty, darkly comic, and structurally clever in ways that reward attention.
But The tone jumps between thriller and black comedy, which can feel uneven. The second half gets increasingly baroque.

Insomnia2002
Al Pacino as a cop whose moral compromises deepen during an investigation in perpetual daylight. It's about exhaustion, guilt, and how good people rationalize small corruptions into large ones.
But It's a remake of a Norwegian film some prefer. The premise is simple, and it doesn't have the puzzle-box mechanics some thrillers offer.

Mulk2018
An Indian legal drama where a Muslim family fights to prove their innocence when society has already convicted them. It shares Villain's interest in how institutions fail individuals and truth becomes secondary to narrative.
But It's earnest and issue-driven, which can read as didactic. The courtroom speeches sometimes overwhelm nuance.

Kahaani2012
A pregnant woman searches for her missing husband through Kolkata during Durga Puja. It's a smart mystery that uses the city as a character and keeps you guessing until a genuinely clever revelation.
But The twist lands better if you don't suspect it coming. Some find the second half shifts tone too sharply from thriller to action.

Rang De Basanti2006
Young people fighting institutional corruption through unconventional means. It has the idealism and moral urgency that Villain questions, making it a thematic counterpoint about systems, justice, and where responsibility truly lies.
But It's manipulative in how it frames its climax. The length and multiple tones make it feel scattered to some viewers.

The Sting1973
Both are built on hidden identities and false assumptions about who's guilty and who's innocent. But where Villain uses this to darken the world, The Sting uses it to celebrate human ingenuity and outsmarting the powerful.
A Depression-era con film where two grifters engineer an elaborate revenge scheme against a mob boss. It's all misdirection and joy, performed by Newman and Redford with pure pleasure, full of schemes within schemes.
But It's a heist film, not a police mystery, so the tone is light and playful rather than dark. If you want moral weight, this trades it for entertainment.

People
Cast
MohanlalMathew Manjooran
Vishal KrishnaSakthiveli Palaniswami
Hansika MotwaniSreya
Manju WarrierNeelima
Athira PatelMathew 's Daughter
SiddiqueDGP
SrikanthFelix D' Vincent
Raashii KhannaASP Harshita Chopra IPS
Renji PanickerK. Sreenivasan
Aju VargheseChurutt Kannappi
Chemban Vinod JoseIqbal
AnandDhanesh Tharakan
Directing
- B. UnnikrishnanDirector
Writing
- B. K. Hari NarayananLyricist
- Engandiyoor ChandrasekharanLyricist
- Madhu VasudevanLyricist
- B. UnnikrishnanScreenplay
- B. UnnikrishnanStory
Production
- Rockline VenkateshProducer