Amala

“Amala” is an Indian 2023 Malayalam language psychological thriller film directed and written by Nishad Ebrahim. The film was produced by Muhsina Nishad Ebrahim under Mascot Productions and stars Srikanth, Rajisha Vijayan, Anarkali Marikar, and Appani Sarath.

The movie follows ACP “Akbar Ali” (Srikanth), a smart and driven police officer, who is assigned the job of cracking a series of chilling murders that are occurring throughout the city within one night. When he starts the investigation, Akbar finds amazing similarities in the cases. While he searches for clues, he ends up in a remote forest where two young women live in total seclusion, not knowing they are part of the evil mystery he is trying to solve.

At the same time, “Basil” (Appani Sarath), a former orphan and prison escapee, dresses up as a taxi driver and turns up at a plantation bungalow. He is given the task of dropping off a passenger at a remote house where “Sherin” (Anarkali Marikar) lives, a deaf-mute woman. Upon encountering her, Basil begins to hallucinate and thinks she is Amala, his childhood sweetheart who met a tragic end. Guilty of Amala's death, Basil had been in a juvenile home for years. Now, with mental trauma, he identifies Amala in other women and starts killing them whom he considers to be similar to her.

As Akbar ties up loose ends, the movie digs deeper into Basil's traumatic childhood and lays bare the causation for his brutal killings. The final showdown between Akbar and Basil introduces suspense and tees up the potential for a sequel.

“Amala” differs from conventional whodunit suspense thrillers in that it unveils the killer at the beginning and instead works on the psychological layers of the crimes. While the film does take time to gain momentum, the second half is full of thrilling moments. It manages to depict how pain and trauma can mold an individual's dark trajectory, albeit a few narrative inconsistencies.