August 11, 2026: A quiet woman, a dangerous night and a chain of events that refuses to let her go. Thudakkam begins like a character drama and gradually transforms into a survival thriller, with Vismaya Mohanlal at its centre.
Directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, the film introduces Vismaya as Meenu, a young woman living with her physically challenged father in Parumala. Her life is deliberately uncomplicated. She cares for her father, loves her dog and spends her time teaching young girls in the neighbourhood.
That ordinary rhythm is broken when Meenu helps two schoolgirls get home late one evening. What appears to be a harmless act of kindness becomes the trigger for a much darker situation. From there, Thudakkam shifts gears, turning Meenu from an everyday young woman into someone fighting simply to survive.
The premise itself is hardly unfamiliar. Malayalam cinema, and Indian thrillers in general, have explored variations of revenge, violence against women and survival many times before. What keeps Thudakkam moving is the way Jude builds towards the danger rather than throwing the audience into it immediately.
The first half takes its time establishing Meenu and her world. That patience pays off when the film reaches its interval, where the threat finally becomes clear. The second half is considerably more physical, with the film relying heavily on action and escalating danger to maintain momentum.
And this is where Vismaya makes the strongest impression.
There is an understandable curiosity around any star child making a debut, but Thudakkam works best when it stops asking the audience to look at Vismaya as Mohanlal’s daughter and simply lets her be Meenu. She is particularly assured during the action sequences, where her martial arts training becomes an asset rather than a decorative detail.
Her emotional performance is less consistent, and some dramatic moments could have used greater restraint. But when the film asks her character to fight back, Vismaya looks completely at home.
The film also gets an unexpected boost from Aashish Joe Antony, who plays the antagonist. Instead of relying on lengthy villainous speeches, he uses silence, physicality and expression to create menace. His performance has an unsettling quality precisely because he does not need to constantly announce how dangerous he is.
Jude’s direction keeps the thriller accessible, although the screenplay occasionally leans too heavily on familiar genre beats. Some developments can be anticipated well before they arrive, and the emotional payoff does not always land with the same force as the action.
Thudakkam Review: Vismaya Mohanlal Owns the Fight in a Familiar Thriller
The film’s technical departments, however, understand the assignment. Jomon T John’s cinematography gives the Kerala landscape an atmospheric quality, while Jakes Bejoy’s score works underneath the tension without overpowering it. The action choreography becomes increasingly important as the story progresses, particularly in the latter half.
There is also a noticeable attempt to use Mohanlal’s presence and legacy as part of the film’s appeal. At times, that feels more like an expectation the movie is carrying than something the story genuinely needs.
Still, Thudakkam earns credit for giving its female protagonist the physical agency that the genre often denies its women. Meenu does not remain a passive victim waiting for someone else to rescue her. Once the danger closes in, she fights her way through it.
The film may not reinvent the survival thriller, but it does something arguably more useful for a debut: it gives Vismaya enough room to establish her own screen identity.
By the end, the biggest takeaway is not that Mohanlal’s daughter has entered Malayalam cinema. It is that Vismaya Mohanlal has arrived as an actor with a convincing action presence , and that could be the most interesting beginning of all.
𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ★★★☆☆