Patriot Movie Review
Privacy. That single word hangs over Patriot from its opening moments, and the film knows it. Before the familiar disclaimer about fiction and coincidence, it flashes a line insisting this is not a film against the digitalisation of India. You almost have to smile because what follows is an espionage thriller built around surveillance, data abuse, state overreach and the narrowing space for dissent. In today’s climate, where criticism is often mistaken for anti-national sentiment, that opening card is telling in itself.
Director: Mahesh Narayanan
Cast: Mammootty, Mohanlal, Fahadh Faasil, Kunchacko Boban, Nayanthara, Revathy, Zarin Shihab, Darshana Rajendran
Written and directed by Mahesh Narayanan, this ambitious three-hour techno-thriller follows Daniel James (Mammootty), a senior scientific adviser who stumbles upon the misuse of Periscope, a powerful spyware programme originally sanctioned for national security. The trail leads to influential minister JP Sundaram (Rajeev Menon), his son Shakthi (Fahadh Faasil), who runs the tech giant Shakthi Solutions, and a larger machinery built on control. Once Daniel decides to question it, he is forced into exile and begins fighting back from afar through digital platforms, aided in crucial moments by Rahim (Mohanlal), a former military man with his own connection to Daniel. The film becomes part man-on-the-run thriller, part political drama, part cautionary tale for the smartphone age.
Mahesh has a habit of taking familiar templates and reworking them through a distinctly local lens. Malik had echoes of The Godfather. C U Soon carried shades of Searching. Patriot feels loosely inspired by Snowden and Enemy of the State, while also clearly drawing from the real-life Pegasus spyware scandal. The first hour is especially strong. It is heavy with political detail, technological jargon and layers of conspiracy, yet remains gripping because the stakes feel real. The writing may not always be elegant, but the concerns are urgent. In a world where every device listens, every app knows too much, and every click leaves a trail, the film’s warnings land. That alone gives it relevance.
Mammootty is the anchor throughout with commanding ease. Suave, sharp and assured, he gives Daniel both gravitas and star presence. Even in scenes that are mostly exposition, he keeps things watchable through sheer control. There is also a sly charm in the stretches where Daniel becomes an online dissident figure, popularly known as 'Vimathan' (dissident), turning the tools of modern media back against power. Mohanlal appears in an extended cameo as Rahim, and Mahesh deserves credit for using him with restraint rather than empty fan service. He is effective in a grounded role, and one late action sequence inside a lift is staged with real tension. Another standout set piece, involving Daniel aboard an aircraft, is among the film’s most entertaining passages. Yet what feels missing is emotional depth in the exchanges between Daniel and Rahim. Given the weight of two icons sharing screen space, their relationship could have resonated more.
Where the film evidently begins to wobble is in the second hour, and especially the final stretch. It never becomes boring, but it does become baggy. Mahesh, who also edits alongside Rahul Radhakrishnan, could have streamlined this considerably. A larger issue is the villain. Fahadh Faasil plays Shakthi, the corporate heir at the centre of the storm, but both performance and writing misfire badly. Fahadh is usually one of the finest actors around, which makes this turn all the more surprising. Here, menace is too often reduced to shouting and erratic outbursts. Without a compelling antagonist, several later scenes drift into predictability and even unintentional comedy. Another drawback is how its prominent women ensemble, including Nayanthara, Revathy, Darshana Rajendran and Zarin Shihab, are given little dramatic weight, despite the potential they bring.
Visually, the film is impressive. Seasoned Bollywood cinematographer Manush Nandan, in his Malayalam debut, gives the film a sleek, dynamic energy, with cameras gliding through conversations and control rooms alike. The sense of a sprawling surveillance state is conveyed effectively. However, Sushin Shyam delivers a mixed score. The recurring main theme is strong, while the background music elsewhere is inconsistent. The songs fare better, especially the haunting ‘Manushyan’, whose spoken lines about walls that hear and windows that watch, beautifully voiced by Mammootty, effectively capture the film’s central paranoia.
In the end, Patriot is often messy, overlong and not nearly as nuanced as it wants to be. But it is also timely, watchable, and admirably fearless in what it chooses to address, with the much hyped reunion of Mammootty and Mohanlal adding weight without turning into a nostalgia cash grab. Even with its flaws, the film is worth engaging with, as a reminder that privacy, once lost, is not easy to get back...