While Malayalam cinema soared last year, delivering banger after banger and rewriting box office records, many dismissed its success as sour grapes, arguing that its triumph was only because other industries were ailing. As we enter the second half of 2025 now, most major film industries in the country remain in dire straits, while Malayalam cinema has seen an oddly fluctuating performance so far, proving that no one’s success hinges solely on the failure of others. It also serves as a reminder that no one stays on top forever.If 2024 was the year Malayalam cinema kept outdoing itself at every turn, each success collectively contributing to its ascent to the top, the first six months of 2025 have delivered a mixed bag: a few exceptional works, some major disappointments, a handful of good films, and many average to poor experiences. In a way, it could be said that the industry is reeling from achievement fatigue, unsure of how to move forward or what to aim for next.Bollywood 6-month report card | Polarising Chhaava, spunky Sitaare Zameen Par and the terrible Sikandar, here’s the best and worst of 2025 till nowHowever, since the industry is not a unicellular entity but rather a collective term for a cluster of artistes, technicians and their works, connected by a common language, such generalisations are difficult to assert as fact. That said, there is undoubtedly a growing sense — and to some extent, a fear — among industry professionals about how to outdo themselves. The golden question everyone is grappling with is, “how do we make films better than the ones we’ve already made?” While this internal pressure has propelled some to outperform themselves, for others, it has become a burden of sorts. The inability to match one’s own standards or meet rising audience expectations is nothing new; but for those working in Malayalam cinema today, it may be more real than ever.Start on a disappointing noteUnlike last year, which began with one of the finest Malayalam films in recent memory, Aattam, 2025 started on a disappointing note with Identity, starring Tovino Thomas and Trisha Krishnan. Directed by Akhil Paul and Anas Khan, the duo behind Forensic (2020), this action thriller turned out to be a complete letdown owing to substandard writing and poor performances from both leads. The filmmakers’ obsession with nailing scientific and technical accuracy came at the cost of engaging storytelling here.That week also saw a few smaller releases, such as Communist Pacha Adhava Appa and ID: The Fake, but none made a significant impact. It was Jofin T Chacko’s alternate-history (althist) thriller Rekhachithram, starring Asif Ali and Anaswara Rajan, that marked Malayalam cinema’s first major comeback of the year. Indeed, a “tribute to the magical allure of cinema”, Rekhachithram also reaffirmed the enduring appeal of a well-made thriller, something Identity failed to deliver. While recent big-budget movies like “Thalapathy” Vijay’s The Greatest of All Time (GOAT), Kamal Haasan’s Indian 2 and Mohanlal’s Barroz faced much backlash for poorly executed VFX, despite hefty financial investments, Rekhachithram proved that technical brilliance is possible even on a limited budget. The AI-generated Mammootty in the film made that point loud and clear.While subsequent releases like Ennu Swantham Punyalan and Pravinkoodu Shappu impressed certain sections of the audience, they ultimately failed to make any impact.Story continues below this adMammootty’s fall2025 also saw the tables turning between the Big Ms, the bona fide and unparalleled superstars of Malayalam cinema. Not only did we witness Mammootty — who had been riding high on a wave of success with back-to-back spectacular projects earning both critical and commercial acclaim — stumble at the box office, but also Mohanlal — who had been consistently disappointing audiences with one letdown after another in recent years — make a glorious comeback with two consecutive blockbusters. Although Mammootty’s Turbo (2024) received mixed reviews, it was a box office success nonetheless, allowing the megastar to bask in glory a little longer last year. However, his winning streak came to a grinding halt with the release of Dominic and the Ladies’ Purse, which marked Gautham Vasudev Menon’s directorial debut in Malayalam. A mystery comedy marred by wasted potential, it’s hard to believe this amateurish film came from a director with 24 years of experience and several hits to his name.The last week of January saw the release of two major films that were polar opposites, both in content and in the audience’s reaction. Ponman impressed viewers with its technical brilliance, stellar performances, particularly by Basil Joseph, and the subject matter it tackled. In stark contrast, the Vineeth Sreenivasan-starrer Oru Jaathi Jathakam attracted significant backlash for its narrative, which shamelessly and offensively reinforced several harmful practices, including casteism, colourism, misogyny, sexism, body shaming and homophobia. Thus, according to data from the Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA), only Rekhachithram managed to generate enough revenue from theatres to turn a profit in January.Once Upon a Time in Mollywood | A Telugu-born actor became Malayalam cinema’s ‘Tragedy Queen’; brought home its first National Film Award for Best Actress and outshone her peersDisastrous Valentine’s Day weekendWhile February 2024 had been a golden month for Malayalam cinema, with the arrival of films like Manjummel Boys, Premalu, Bramayugam, Family and Anweshippin Kandethum, this year’s February was relatively dull, despite the release of several anticipated films. Narayaneente Moonnaanmakkal, though not a major success, managed to capture some audience attention. Three films — Painkili, Bromance and Daveed — were released during the Valentine’s Day weekend, but none performed well. It’s baffling that the makers chose to flood theatres with three moderately big releases during a weekend when Saturday wasn’t a holiday, and when Valentine’s Day didn’t fall on the weekend either.Kunchacko Boban and Priyamani’s Officer on Duty hit the screens the following week and became a hit, but received massive criticism for its themes after its OTT release. Meanwhile, Unni Mukundan proved, through the failure of Get Set Baby, that despite the massive PR push to position him as Malayalam cinema’s new big superstar after the success of Marco (2024), he still has a long way to go, both in terms of stardom and as an actor.Story continues below this adMohanlal’s glorious comeback with EmpuraanSince March is typically exam season for students, film releases are usually limited, and this year was no exception, particularly as the month also coincided with Ramadan. At the same time, it also felt as though the industry was collectively setting the stage for the arrival of the most hyped Malayalam film in recent times. Helmed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, the Mohanlal-starrer L2: Empuraan, a sequel to the duo’s 2019 blockbuster Lucifer, hit the screens on March 27 and became an instant box office smash, momentarily putting Malayalam cinema back at the top. However, contrary to expectations, it opened to underwhelming responses, largely due to weak writing and a somewhat pretentious approach to filmmaking. Its troubles were compounded by the controversy over its depiction of the 2002 Gujarat pogrom. Although Empuraan eventually became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time, marking Mohanlal’s stunning return after a string of flops, including Malaikottai Vaaliban and the disastrous Barroz of last year, many fans were left disappointed, feeling the film didn’t live up to even half their expectations.In all honesty, April mirrored February. While April 2024 saw the industry delivering blockbusters like Aavesham and Varshangalkku Shesham, the same month in 2025 was packed with underperformers. Bringing his success streak to a definitive end, Mammootty returned with Bazooka, a disappointing film that exemplified what happens when you start with a unique and intriguing concept but have no idea how to turn it into a full-length screenplay. That same week, two more movies hit theatres. While the Basil Joseph-starrer Maranamass impressed a few but left most unsatisfied, Khalid Rahman and Naslen’s fresh take on the sports comedy genre in Alappuzha Gymkhana ultimately proved to be the more successful of the two, despite receiving mixed reviews.The Thudarum phenomenonLess than a month after scoring an industry hit with Empuraan, Mohanlal returned again at the end of April and set the box office afire with Thudarum, directed by Tharun Moorthy and also starring Shobana. Opening to overwhelmingly positive reviews from both critics and audiences, Thudarum was widely hailed as the true comeback of Mohanlal, the actor. The film’s success even sparked massive trolling against Prithviraj, with many suggesting he take notes from Tharun on how to make a film featuring a legendary actor-turned-star. Thudarum currently ranks as the third-highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time, behind Empuraan and Manjummel Boys.May was like a microcosm of the year so far: a mixed bag. Sarkeet was good but not great; Padakkalam was poorly written, though the humour worked well enough to keep audiences mildly entertained; Dileep’s comedy-drama Prince and Family, despite featuring many attempts to whitewash his public image and resurrect his long-lost stardom, was still a much better movie compared to his recent disasters like Bandra (2023), Thankamani (2024) and Pavi Caretaker (2024); the 3D fantasy film Lovely was trash; Samshayam was, at best, decent; Mr & Mrs Bachelor was forgettable; Azadi had potential but didn’t deliver; Detective Ujjwalan was a letdown, especially due to Dhyan Sreenivasan’s poor performance; and Narivetta, while technically brilliant, suffered from Tovino Thomas’ artificial acting and problematic content. Amidst all this, Vinod AK’s dance drama Moonwalk, featuring a cast of newcomers, stood out. Not only was it a brilliant film, but it also served as a sharp reminder to industries like Bollywood, which continue to churn out shoddy pictures without pause or self-reflection.Story continues below this adWhat next…?June started on a low note with the underwhelming Written & Directed by God and the misogynistic Abhyanthara Kuttavali. The only positive factor in the latter was Asif Ali’s performance. However, the month was redeemed by Shahi Kabir’s Ronth, a spectacular police procedural drama featuring a career-best performance from Dileesh Pothan and an impressive one by Roshan Mathew. Tied together by Shahi’s sharp screenplay and brilliant direction, Ronth added another feather to Malayalam cinema’s cap, though it wasn’t entirely free from the problematic tropes often found in the works of the police officer-turned-filmmaker. Other June releases like Vyasana Sametham Bandhumithradhikal were merely decent, while Nancy Rani, United Kingdom of Kerala and Koodal turned out to be entirely forgettable.Although the year so far hasn’t been as bad for Malayalam cinema as it has been for its counterpart industries, the road ahead remains precarious. Despite many more releases lined up, the industry is undoubtedly walking on thin ice and a single misstep could send it spiraling. More than just better films, what the industry urgently needs is smarter release planning and more effective promotional strategies.