Malayalam cinema has been on a remarkable journey and this year saw some of its finest works, with eight of the 20 highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time being released in 2024.
The industry has also been receiving recognition internationally with Manjummel Boys recently having been screened at KinoBravo Russian film festival as a contender. And now adding to the list of accomplishments, one of the films has landed a top spot in a list highlighting the best movies from around the world in a specific genre.
In the recently released ‘Top 25 Horror Films of 2024’ by Letterboxd, a popular online platform for film cataloguing, the Malayalam horror/thriller Bramayugam has earned second place. Directed by Rahul Sadasivan, this period folk horror film stars Mammootty in the lead.
The film has been met with widespread acclaim for its atmospheric storytelling and Mammootty’s riveting performance. "What's a horror film if it doesn't make you uncomfortable and squirm?" reads excerpt from the Cinema Express review of this film. And this is precisely what Mammootty does! The actor goes all in and doesn't hold back from depicting his sinister form as the chaathan (goblin).
Meanwhile, director Amar Kaushik’s horror comedy Stree 2, starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor in the lead roles, has secured the 23rd position. These are the only two Indian films in the list that mostly includes Hollywood movies among languages.
Grossing Rs 837.1 crore, according to industry tracker Sacnilk, Stree 2 currently ranks as the second highest-grossing Indian film and the highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024. It is the latest instalment in Maddock Films' horror-comedy universe, which also includes Bhediya and Munjya.
Here is Letterboxd’s list of Top 25 horror films of 2024:
The Substance (English)
Bramayugam (Malayalam)
Chime (Japanese)
Dead Talents Society (Mandarin)
Your Monster (English)
Alien: Romulus (English)
The Girl with the Needle (Danish)
Strange Darling (English)
Exhuma (Korean)
I Saw the TV Glow (English)
Birdeater (English)
The Devil’s Bath (German)
Oddity (English)
Lisa Frankenstein (English)
Longlegs (English)
Late Night with the Devil (English)
Agak Laen (Indonesian)
The First Omen (English)
Speak No Evil (English)
Milk & Serial
Slay (English)
Kang Mak (Indonesian)
Stree 2 (Hindi)
A Quiet Place: Day One (English)
Azrael (English)