At what point do you start feeling bad about the idea of wanting someone dead? While watching the new Tamil-language film Maareesan, you crave nothing more than the satisfaction of seeing a middle-aged man murder child molesters. The movie aims to appease a primal desire buried deep within us, and it does so with patience and skill. But the catharsis is temporary. After a while, you’re going to have to live with yourself, a person who wouldn’t mind a few murders here and there as long as the ones being murdered are terrible people. But, the service that Maareesan is accidentally providing has a greater purpose. In its efforts to manipulate our inherent goodness — who wouldn’t want to watch bad people be punished? — it is exposing our blood lust.Directed by Sudheesh Shankar, Maareesan is a morality tale. And, like every morality tale, it gives the audience the illusion of choice. It is no different from all the reprehensible vigilante thrillers that our film industries like making so much, as if they know that the very idea of having faith in the system has been dismantled. But the reason why it gets away with professing the same problematic morality as, say, John Abraham’s Satyameva Jayate, is because it disguises the fact that it is a vigilante movie. For over an hour, it lulls us into a docility by pretending to be something else altogether — for roughly 60 minutes, Maareesan is a buddy comedy, a crime caper, a farce.Also read – Ronth: Bleak Malayalam gem burns Bollywood at the stake with its harrowing and haunting final 20 minutes Fahadh Faasil and Vadivelu in a still from Maareesan.The great Fahadh Faasil plays Dhaya, a petty criminal fresh out of jail. The first thing he does after being released is steal a bike. Within the hour, he bumps into an unassuming-looking man named Velayudham Pillai, played by Vadivelu. This man appears to have early onset dementia and a large bank balance. For someone as seasoned as Dhaya, conning him is like shooting fish in a barrel. Armed with his freshly-stolen bike, he offers Pillai a ride to his far-off destination, and decides that he will steal all his money at some point during the journey. Over the course of a week, they make overnight stops at various small towns, bonding over drinks and shared vulnerabilities.It is only after Maareesan has disarmed you with all the warm-hearted whimsy — who wouldn’t develop a soft corner for someone whose memories are slipping out of their ears? — that it pulls the rug out from under your feet. The movie reveals that Mr Pillai isn’t a poor amnesiac after all, but a serial killer on the hunt for child molesters. And unsurprisingly, you want him to succeed in his mission not only because it sounds justified, but also because you’ve begun to like him as a person. You’ve entered into a toxic relationship with the protagonist, as has your surrogate, Dhaya. Like him, you’ve been gaslit into becoming an accomplice to Mr Pillai’s crimes.Like most serial killers, he has a code. And your tolerance of his quest in Maareesan will depend on whether you’re on the same page as him, ethically speaking. For instance, the television show Dexter ran for multiple seasons — it’s still on, by the way, in a spin-off form — purely on the belief that its audience wouldn’t mind condoning the murder of other murderers. In fact, the show required its audience to actively cheer for its serial-killing protagonist. The moral dilemma became even less complex when Dexter’s own wife was killed after a few seasons. The question is: would you hold on to the same beliefs in the real world, or do they exist only inside the framework of a fictional film of a show?Because what are superheroes if not glorified vigilantes? They take matters into their own hands; they deliver justice to criminals, but they also cause collateral damage. Would the real world take kindly to someone like Batman, who, in an attempt to nab a single lunatic, destroys a dozen shops that small business owners probably spent their life’s savings on? Would they forgive Superman for vaporising an entire town the size of Kullu just by falling on it? And yet, people fantasise about becoming superheroes, just as they fantasise about beating up a neighbour who looked at their wife wrong.Story continues below this adRead more – Narivetta: They won’t let you watch the shadow-banned Santosh, so you should watch Tovino Thomas’ blazing new film 10 times as revenge Fahadh Faasil and Vadivelu in a still from Maareesan.Nobody but an RWA uncle would salivate at the idea of going to the cops with their petty complaints. Films are fantasies. But certain films are more fantastical than others. It is difficult to forgive murder on screen — this is why Shazia Iqbal held her protagonist back from pulling the trigger, so to speak, in Dhadak 2. But, put a man in a colourful costume, and he will be transformed from a rampaging crazy person into an avenging angel. Nobody, however, is wearing any sort of fancy dress in Maareesan, and this is why Pillai’s actions are morally questionable. Despite the movie’s best efforts to justify what he’s doing, the story is far too realistic to brush off as mere make-believe.The fact that Maareesan is able to get you, presumably a law-abiding citizen, to call for bloody murder is proof enough of its success. This is exactly what it wants you to feel, and you can’t help but admire it for its tenacity and confidence. It is a far better-made film than the sort of vigilante movies that leave you with a dirty taste in your mouth, movies that use women as pawns for the plot, or worse, as devices for the progress of male protagonists. Pillai is no different, morally, from Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. He’s a lonely man on a suicide mission, absorbed by anger and having deluded himself into believing he is doing the Lord’s work. But director Shankar doesn’t view him as such; he sees Pillai as a hero. And there lies Maareesan’s fatal flaw.Post Credits Scene is a column in which we dissect new releases every week, with particular focus on context, craft, and characters. Because there’s always something to fixate about once the dust has settled.Rohan Naahar is an assistant editor at Indian Express online. He covers pop-culture across formats and mediums. He is a 'Rotten Tomatoes-approved' critic and a member of the Film Critics Guild of India. He previously worked with the Hindustan Times, where he wrote hundreds of film and television reviews, produced videos, and interviewed the biggest names in Indian and international cinema. At the Express, he writes a column titled Post Credits Scene, and has hosted a podcast called Movie Police. You can find him on X at @RohanNaahar, and write to him at rohan.naahar@indianexpress.com. He is also on LinkedIn and Instagram. ... Read MoreClick here to follow Screen Digital on YouTube and stay updated with the latest from the world of cinema.© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd