12 MALAYALAM MOVIES THAT WILL CERTAINLY MAKE YOU UNEASY

Now having already covered the most unsettling viewing experiences in Malayalam cinema in LIST OF THE MOST DISTURBING MALAYALAM FILMS, this list might not seem like an ordeal after all, but there are numerous movies in our canon that irks our distress tolerance, however varying in degrees though, owing to its subject matter that may entirely not sit inside our comfort zones, and that can make for a handsomely eggy list all by themselves- more like a part-2 to the 'Disturbing List'. Although less potent in its viciousness when compared to those movies in the “Disturbing List”, most of them discuss unkind fate and unappetizing situations you don’t want to deal with or discuss in real life. Following is a list of such films in Malayalam that will invariably make you uneasy, be it emotionally, intellectually or physically- some right in the end, while some throughout the run. 

12. Panchagni 1986

Being a prisoner on parole alone could be trying, least to mention a female one. Indira, out on parole, in Panchagni is confronted by a hostile society as one expects, and the hostility seethes into the viewer in no time, and stays on. We desperately want her to reclaim her life, which precisely is the key reason for our discomfort viewing this Hariharan film scripted by M.T.  But without so much as a shout or a drop of blood, the perpetual uneasiness this film instills in you is mute and internal in nature, and can be very tiring to articulate.

11. Amaram 1991

For most part, this Bharathan drama plays out as a pleasant homage to fatherhood set against the overwhelming backdrop of the sea. But it starts to get icky right after the first breach in trust strikes distancing the lovelorn daughter from her doting father. From then on it’s a bumpy ride downhill.  From affection to frustration leading to hate and then despair, this is one father-daughter relationship that will leave you emotionally shattered in the end. Mammootty as the distraught single parent gives one of his most moving performances of his career.

10. Pavithram 1994

The ill-disposed fate in Pavithram has it’s basic graph set like that of Amaram in the sense that it’s also about a devoted guardian rebuffed by his ward in the end. But Pavithram’s qualms start right from the beginning, first when the ageing couple bears a child they were not thrilled to have, following which the kid becomes the responsibility of her elder brother who is old enough to be her father. How the over protective brother gives up his happiness one after the other in order to bring her up without disruptions adds on to our irritation up until the eventual rejection that completely destroys him takes our tolerance and throws it to the dogs.

9. Ente Veedu, Appoontem 2003

A ten-year-old kid charged with the murder of his infant brother alone makes up for a pretty sensitive movie subject. That coupled with an enduring performance by the child actor here make us twitch in the seat in distress from one awkward situation to another. It’s intense and disturbing at various levels, and despite the fact that it ends on a positive note one will deny the fact that it was an exhausting watch.

8. Achanurangatha Veedu 2006

A film that was very relevant at the time of its initial release, Achanurangatha Veedu addressed one of the most disturbing among countless sex crimes reported in the state. The lurid details of a gang rape and the subsequent social ostracism of the victim and her family will make you want to turn away in the middle of every scene. Particularly the toll this mortifying scandal takes on the father of the girl is terrifying, and it eerily holds a mirror up to the depravity of our society.

7. Sukrutham 1994

In Sukrutham, the icky factor is the complexity of the relationships itself. The sad and depressing setting with an ailing man waiting for his end, and the unintentional callousness of the surrounding family’s conviction about its certainty are all troubling. But the real soup boils up when he returns from the sickbed, a rejuvenated man. To his disbelief and ours, he soon realizes the displeasure he causes among his people- how his return disrupted the new balance in their lives! What eventually drives him to his harsh resolve in the end will haunt you for days.

6. Chenkol 1993

When Sibi Malyil- Lohithadas partnership revived the Kireedam plot four years after it famously ended in a depressing showdown, nobody in the know of the duo’s penchant for soul-stirring subject matter would have expected a sudden elevation of Sethumadhavan’s future that was already in the doldrums. But what came to pass was even more depressing than anticipated. It was difficult to imagine how to make an already ruined life even worse let alone watch it and remain sane. Despite it’s creative merit, it couldn’t have been for nothing why this sequel failed. We simply couldn’t take it anymore!

5. Malootty 1992

Malootty is gripping and fascinating, but it is not a film to be ‘enjoyed’ but one that is to be ‘endured’. The entire second half of the film focuses on a kid stuck in a deep hole in the ground and the rescue operation to save her before the tree root she’s perched on gives way, being careful not to shut the hole in a likely mudslide in the process. It’s claustrophobic and nerve-wracking, and to have a vulnerable kid at the heart of all the tension makes it only worse.

4. Nirmalyam 1973

With one of the most graphically disturbing scenes in the history of Malayalam Cinema in the bloody climax, Nirmalyam is a difficult watch. Alongside the change in time and deteriorating values, what is central to the plot is poverty that forever sways the characters with its demonic weight. Even if you manage to endure their struggles to survive, the revulsion associated with the final scene is heartbreaking and terrifying, and you leave feeling extremely sorry to have witnessed it.

3. Bharatham 1991

Mohanlal stars in this remarkable film that is as emotionally pulverizing as is cerebrally suffocating which is why most people dread a re-watch despite its imaginative finesse. Following a subtle depiction of artistic ego and guru-shishya rivalry in the second act, the film moves on to deal with an unflinching encounter with the death of a dear one and the emotionally charged cover-up that follows. The final few scenes are heartbreaking and edgy at the same time.

2. Thanmathra 2005

Thanmathra is an unflinching look at the infamous Alzheimer’s syndrome that slowly eats into the lovable protagonist’s vision at the same time pushing us to our wit’s end and further. It’s soul-crushing to see the deteriorating dignity of a cheerful person you’ve just begun to like. Then that initial shock will slowly precipitate to desperation and further to hopelessness through the crumbling life of this middle-class any-man with a dream, who you see shrinking back into the intellect of a child. It also threatens to simultaneously wake the hypochondriacs in each one of us.

1. Arimpara 2003

Watching Murali Nair’s Arimpara (also known as The Story that Begins at the End) is greatly exhausting and will prove immensely taxing to your OCD radar. The trouble here in question is the titular wart that from a tiny dot on the chin grows to a frightening bulk responding to home remedies and folk medicines. The harrowing graphics of the ever-growing wart will visibly get under your skin sooner than you figure out the metaphor that links it to one’s stubbornness to stick to outdated traditions. High on the icky-factor and Kafkaesque in its eccentricity and logic, this would also be one of the most difficult films to revisit.

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