Spoilers ahead…
The film is not unwatchable, exactly. But none of the characters are terribly interesting, so it never matters who the culprit is going to be.
Jeethu Joseph’s 12th Man opens with a secret that quickly is told to someone, who tells it to someone else, and so on – until the secret is no longer a secret. The film’s centrepiece is a woman’s death, which leads to more secrets. That’s why there’s a subtitle: Unveiling the Shadows. The 11 characters are a group of very close friends. But how close is “close”? And how do you define a “friend”? Are friends just people who meet at Diwali parties and go to resorts during vacations, like in this movie? Or are they people who genuinely help each other when in need? Do they make sacrifices even if it means that their reputation takes a hit? Don’t worry. 12th Man isn’t an existential study. But it does make you wonder how this group of friends has remained friends all this time. If only they knew at the beginning what they know about one another at the end!
You can read the rest of the review here:
https://www.galatta.com/malayalam/movie/review/12th-man/
And you can watch the video review here:
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MANK
May 21, 2022
Lalettan just can’t seem to catch a break. ever since the idiots around him decided to turn him into a “BRAND” its been one bad movie (and move) after another for him. whether trying to make a pure commercial potboiler like Aarattu or a serious historical epic like Marakkar (or staying on as president of AMMA), it’s been a series of duds.
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Vignesh
May 23, 2022
This movie turned to be surprisingly interesting, as my expectations wasn’t high after reading your review and given it was a direct OTT product. I think even if none of the characters are too interesting, it doesn’t always matter in an investigative thriller of this kind.
Its cold and detached style of proceedings without much emotional attachment, actually looked refreshing and engaging, like when we feel dealing with an interesting puzzle . I didn’t get a wow moment in climax, but overall the film was definitely a good watch. And Mohanlal’s intriguing performance really kept us in the hook.
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sanjana
May 24, 2022
An engrossing thriller, visually pleasing. Mohanlal nailed it when he started investigating the case. Reminded me of Rebecca.
Good timepass. Not a dull moment.
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sanjana
May 25, 2022
Another thing I liked about this film is absence of gore, too much violence, and other things which mark a thriller imitating Korean and hollywood thrillers. It is almost squeaky clean and can be watched without feeling uncomfortable. It is also less judgmental about its characters.
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