Vikram

A masked crew is killing the men guarding a drug shipment one by one. The state sends a special unit under a man called Amar. Amar opens the file on one of the dead: Karnan, thrown out of the army for drinking, presumed dead years ago. The deeper the file goes, the more who Karnan was and why he died keeps changing, while Santhanam, who owns the drugs, is hunting the same crew. The film is less interested in solving a case than in three men seeing the same events from three places. Who is right keeps shifting to the end, and information is released in order. Lokesh Kanagaraj wrote and directed. Kamal Haasan plays Karnan, Fahadh Faasil plays Amar and Vijay Sethupathi plays Santhanam. It is the second part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe, after Kaithi in 2019 and before Leo in 2023, and the connections are made explicit. Made for close to one and a quarter billion rupees, it took over four billion worldwide and was the fourth highest-earning Indian film of 2022. Who it is for: anyone who likes Tamil action, multi-character crime narratives and connected film universes. Who it is not for: anyone wary of violence. It runs close to three hours, the body count is very high, and the last section is left open to set up the next film.