Malikappuram

Vishnu Sasi Shankar's 2022 Malayalam film follows Kallu, eight years old. She badly wants to go to Sabarimala, the trip keeps being postponed, and in the end she sets out with a friend on her own. The film joins a children's journey to a story of faith. The danger met on the road is tied to an abduction; the narrative turns to thriller in that stretch and folds faith into how things are resolved. Unni Mukundan appears. The film found an unexpectedly wide audience in Kerala. The tone is bound up with religious material. Who it's for: viewers of faith-centred family films. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a detached view; the film takes up the religious account directly.