The origins of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies are traced from the early works of Prem Nazir, Malayalam film industry had produced quite a few thrillers and it was no different midway through his career. Who could ever forget movies like Cochin Express, CID Nazir, Lanka Dahanam, Panchavadi and many more thrillers by Nazir? Nirnayam (1995) still stands out as the best among movies dealing with medical crimes.
Post-2010, the trend was a bit different, and every year, few movies added to the thriller genre. But in 2020, things changed as Anjaam Pathira was marked as the first box office hit of the year followed by the success of Forensic. So, here is a curated list of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies released after 2010.
Last Updated on July 01, 2022
Also Read: Best English Thriller Movies on Netflix
Also Read: Best Telugu Thriller Movies on Amazon
Director – Khalid Rahman
Starring – Tom Chacko & Rajisha Vijayan
Streaming Platform – Netflix
Love narrates the story of a couple who have a troubled family life due to the toxicities that they carry inside them. The story of Love takes us into an inner level thinking of the happenings in the life of the couple, and leaves had left behind some questions that are up to the viewers’ imagination. Love is a very different film that explores a plot and genre no one dared to deliver in the Malayalam film industry.
Director – Jeethu Joseph
Starring – Mohanlal, Meena
Streaming Platform – Disney+ Hotstar
Drishyam 2 is an intriguing thriller that explores the family drama and the aftermath of the first movie. The storyline is set six years later, where Georgekutty is living his life for the family, taking them through the tough times. Drishyam 2 is the best sequel a movie could ever have. With a unique and intriguing storyline, It lives up to expectations and is a must-watch for all. One of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies in recent times.
Director – Prasobh Vijayan
Starring – Jayasurya & Sruthy Ramachandran
Streaming Platform – Amazon Prime
Anveshanam kick starts when the police receive an anonymous call on child abuse, which was reported from a hospital. They also learn that on the same night, the same child was reportedly admitted to the hospital for falling off from a staircase. The gets the cops confused as they couldn’t decide whether it’s an accident or crime. The film’s opening scene portrays the endearing parenting by Aravind and Kavitha. Where had they gone wrong?
Director – Jeethu Joseph
Starring – Prithviraj Sukumaran
Streaming Platform – Disney+ Hotstar
Memories portrays the story of an efficient police officer – Sam Alex, who goes through a family tragedy that destroys him mentally. Eventually, he gets assigned to the investigation of a serial killer, but Sam, who was once a distinguished cop, finds himself addicted to alcohol rather than focusing on the investigation. And the remainder of the film depicts the different ways of him getting closer to the serial killer. Narratively, the screenplay of the film kept the audience engaged in the story, and Jeethu Joseph’s brilliant direction makes Memories a must-watch.
Director – Jeethu Joseph
Starring – Mohanlal, Meena
Streaming Platform – Disney+ Hotstar
Georgekutty (Mohanlal) is living a peaceful life with his family, and things turn upside down when they’re accused of a crime. Drishyam portrays the journey of Geogekutty and his efforts to protect his family when the situation goes haywire. What follows is a series of unfortunate happenings that lead the police to arrest of Georgekutty and his family, and beat them to the pulp. But what are they hiding? The film is different in the way that the culprit is already known to the audience, and the eagerness is only to know whether they escape the situation or not. Drishyam, with its uniqueness, was remade into multiple languages and witnessed box-office success around the country.
Director – Rajesh Pillai
Starring – Kunchako Boban, Manju Warrier
Streaming Platform – MX Player
Rajesh Pillai’s Vettah is an investigative story that turns in to a revenge plot later in the second half. After the abduction of a prominent actress, Sreebala IPS (Manju Warrier) and her colleague Xylex (Indrajith Sukumaran) finds the culprit Melvin (Kunchako Boban) in no time. Melvin manipulates different stories during the investigation provoking the Police force, which in turn leads into surprising events. Melvin had different plans for the abduction, which reveals a revenge plot. Even though the script has quite a few flaws, Vettah is watchable.
Director – Roshan Andrews
Starring – Prithviraj, Jayasurya & Rahman
Streaming Platform – Disney+ Hotstar
Mumbai Police revolves around the lives of three cops, a care-free officer in Antony Mosses, Aaryan John and Farhan. The movie opens with an accident scene that results in memory loss of Antony Mosses. With his condition, he is back into the investigation knowing that he had solved the case just before the accident. Now, he is in the hunt for re-investing the same case, which involved the murder of his friend-cum-colleague – Aaryan. Bobby and Sanjay did a flawless job in writing the script, and the character of Antony Mosses was pictured brilliantly and is one of the remarkable characters in the career of Prithviraj.
Director – Prasobh Vijayan
Starring – Samyuktha Menon
Streaming Platform – Netflix
Best Malayalam Thriller Movies: Prasobh Vijayan’s Lilli movie portrays the story of a courageous and powerful woman, Lilli (Samyuktha Menon) who is kidnapped by three men. Lilli is pregnant at that time and the kidnap had a connection with her dark past. The survival of Lilli makes the rest of the story.
Director – Jean Markos
Starring – Joy Mathew, Asha Sarat
Streaming Platform – YouTube
Jean Markos’ Angels revolve around the murder of three women, which gets media attention as the Cemetery Case. Third Eye is a top charted program on television and Father Varghese Punyalan seeks the assistance of anchor Haritha Menon to publish his book on her live show. During the telecast, Fr. Varghese Punyalan makes a big revelation about the ‘Cemetery Case’ and drags Hameem Hyder into the picture. Although the film has interesting elements, it has loose ends and is a decent one-time watch. One of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies.
Director – Padmakumar
Starring – Joju George
Streaming Platform – Amazon Prime
Padmakumar’s movie explores the life of Joseph, a retired cop with an exceptional skill set of decoding the crime scene. He gets involved in a criminal case, which was led by the unexpected demise of his ex-wife and his further investigation reaches a bigger plot, and he chases wildly for evidence. Joju portrays his role remarkably and is the perfect fit for the overall character. Supplemented by some stellar camera work, editing on the technical side, and an exceptional storyline and splendid direction on the other side, Joseph (2018) is a must-watch for all movie enthusiasts and one of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies.
Director – B. Unnikrishnan
Starring – Mohanlal
Streaming Platform – Netflix
Grandmaster is a thriller revolving around Chandrasekhar, the head of Metro Crime Stopper cell. Chandrasekhar is challenged by a serial killer, who leaves signs on the crime scene. Later he finds the odd that the killer has some connection with his life, and the investigation for the killer’s identity makes the rest of the storyline. The cat and the mouse game between the cop and the killer are pictured through a chess game, which makes the title of the movie connect to the storyline. With a great story, the movie is watchable even for the minimal directional glitches.
Director – Syamdhar
Starring – Prithviraj Sukumaran
Streaming Platform – Disney+ Hotstar
7th Day is a tale of puzzling deaths, missing people and an IPS officer, David Abraham, the protagonist who is in pursuit of the unknown. The story twists around David and a group of friends who are in a mess as they are caught into a whirlwind of unfavorable events occurring one after the other. Although the mysterious events seem unrelated, there is a build-up of tension that leads to an overwhelming climax involving the IPS officer and the bunch of friends (one of them dies under mysterious circumstances). One of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies.
Director – Saiju
Starring – Gokul Suresh, Alencier Lopez
Streaming Platform – ZEE5
Ira revolves around the story of Dr. Aryan, who was conspired as the culprit for the murder of Minister Chandy. Dr. Aryan was insisted to do regular checkups for Chandy, who was a heart patient and Chandy dies due to cardiac arrest, which lands him in a tough situation. Cop Rajiv is behind the case, to solve the puzzles in the life of Dr. Aryan. Rajiv investigates through the people whom Aryan had engaged to find out the truth. The movie with good thrilling elements was a good attempt by the debutant director and movie is worth a watch.
Director – Midhun Manuel Thomas
Starring – Kunchako Boban, Jinu Joseph
Streaming Platform – SUN NXT & AHA (Telugu)
[This movie is feat. at #2 spot in our ‘Best Malayalam Movies of 2020’ list]
Midhun Manuel Thomas’ Anjaam Pathira revolves around a serial killer who targets policemen in the city. Psychologist Anwar Hussain gets involved in the mystery with the help of his cop friend Anil. The movie takes eventful turns to finally hunt down the motive and the life of the serial killer. Midhun Manuel Thomas managed to highlight a simple-yet-gripping narrative, and at times, Anjaam Pathira reminded me of Jeethu Joseph’s Memories and Ram Kumar’s Ratsasan. One of the Best Malayalam Thriller Movies.
Also Read: Best Malayalam Movies on Netflix
Also Read: Best Malayalam Movies on Disney+ Hotstar
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