Movie • Malayalam • 2026
A grieving father enters a virtual-reality memory game to reconnect with his daughter and finds a conspiracy behind the promise.
A bold, unconventional Malayalam sci-fi drama that rewards viewers who are open to its strange, confrontational energy.
Quick verdict
The quick take
Best for: Viewers willing to meet a Malayalam sci-fi experiment on its own bold, unsettling terms.
Vibe: Futuristic, strange and unapologetically maximalist.
Craft & pacing
Krishand makes the film’s design part of its argument: digital glitches, stylised frames and a deliberately overcharged sonic world turn memory and surveillance into texture. The pace is not conventional, but the cinematography, production design and score are doing active narrative work rather than merely decorating the concept.
The review
Masthishka Maranam: A Frankenbiting of Simon’s Memories is not interested in being a standard Malayalam thriller with a science-fiction gadget attached. Directed by Krishand, it begins with a grieving father entering a virtual-reality memory game in the hope of reconnecting with his lost child, then lets that premise open into a more unsettling world of memory, surveillance, performance and conspiracy. The title itself signals the film’s appetite for strangeness. This is a stylised, idea-heavy watch that asks viewers to engage with its world rather than wait for it to become conventional.
Rajisha Vijayan is a major reason the experiment holds together. Her performance has been widely identified as one of the film’s strongest elements, matching the project’s visual intensity without making the character feel like only another piece of design. Around her, the ensemble works inside a world that has clear cyberpunk and dark-comic impulses. That tone may sound busy, but it gives the film an identity few Malayalam releases attempt: it is interested in how technology changes grief, spectacle and the way people look at one another.
The limitation is also obvious: Masthishka Maranam will not work as a casual background stream. It moves through layered ideas and deliberately heightened imagery, so viewers who want a clean, linear mystery may find it overwhelming. For the right audience, though, that excess is the point. The film uses its visual and thematic overload to question digital exploitation, consumer culture and voyeurism, which gives the science-fiction setting a social edge beyond a simple virtual-reality twist.
This spoiler-free Masthishka Maranam review gives it 4 out of 5. It is an ambitious, divisive and rewarding Malayalam sci-fi film for viewers who enjoy cinema that risks being messy in pursuit of a distinct voice. The technical work—futuristic design, glitch-heavy visual language, stylised sound and unusual pacing—is central to the experience. It is available on Netflix with Malayalam audio and English subtitles, and it is one of the titles in this list most likely to inspire a second watch and a real discussion afterwards.