'Abraham Ozler' On Disney+ Hotstar Movie Review: Jayaram-Mammootty Salvage This Generic Story From Falling Flat On Its Face

‘Abraham Ozler’: Story

ACP Abraham Ozler (played by Jayaram) is on a vacation with his wife and daughter. However, on his vacation, he gets a call where he is asked to take over a case. As he goes to the scene, he gets on a call with his colleagues, and he realizes that the call was fake. When he reaches back, he finds his house in a mess and his wife and daughter missing. He takes Vineeth (Arjun Ashokan) into custody who claims to have killed them and buried their bodies.

Abraham Ozler finds himself spiraling into depression because he has not found the bodies of his wife and child. He is haunted by hallucinations and insomnia. During this phase of his life, he is assigned to look into a case of a serial killer. Known as ‘Birthday Killer’, the killer would take lives and leave cryptic notes at the scene. Ozler’s team gets knee-deep into the case to unravel the mystery. As they piece the clues, they find two people involved in the saga – Krishnadas (played by Saiju Kurup) and Alexander (played by Mammootty).

But as they reveal their motives and modus operandi, the case gets murkier. Finally, the case is solved and Ozler also finds the missing clue that he needed to get closure about the death of his wife and child.

‘Abraham Ozler’: Performances

The movie is not devoid of flaws despite its use of a classic hit formula. But what saves the day and makes the ‘Abraham Ozler’ bearable is Jayaram. His performance is what redeems this film. As ACP Abraham Ozler, he brings out the complex nature of his character’s personality. His character is fighting his own battles along with the case. He is able to bring out this fight within him with ease. His screen presence is commanding, and it makes you take note of him.

Anaswara Rajan has a small role to play in the film. She is introduced much later, and she shines in whatever little she has been given to do. Following her stellar performance in ‘Neru’, I had high hopes from her in this film. Safe to say, she did a brilliant job in this film and proved why she is one of the best in business.

Coming to Mammootty. His role was a surprise addition to this film, but it felt like his character was not well chalked out. His unexpected appearance does elevate the film for a brief minute, but it does not do anything more. The actor has done justice to what was asked of him with the script, but does it make a significant impact on the film? No. It feels like the actor was just used for his star value and it feels like a letdown after what he pulled off in ‘Bramayugam.’

‘Abraham Ozler’: Script, Direction & Technical Aspects

‘Abraham Ozler’ is a mix of medical drama, crime, and thriller. When you have these three elements that have the potential to create a binge-able drama, it is hard to go wrong. But ‘Abraham Ozler’ does go wrong. The movie uses this hit formula to give us something that is very generic. It starts with a troubled cop who goes to investigate a case and ends up solving his matter. This very generic line of events could have been portrayed in a way that keeps you hooked, but it is taken quite literally. Keeping in line with being a medical drama, there are ample medical references and jargon. Like serial killers in every other movie, the serial killer here also leaves notes but here he uses a quote that he saw in a dissection room.

Apart from the too-literal treatment of the plot what also dampens this film is the music. The music forms an important part in a crime thriller. In ‘Abraham Ozler’, the music is a sheer let-down. It could have been elevated to enhance the experience and build suspense, but that was a lost opportunity.

The direction by Midhun Manuel Thomas also needs to be talked about. While the movie maintains pace in the first half, the cops end up finding the killer almost by the interval. This revelation is a letdown because the latter half of the film merely focuses on the motives of the killers. This could have been wrapped in a smaller climax section. Giving it too much time tends to bore you out and you are waiting angrily for the movie to cut to the chase. Being a crime thriller you expect to solve the case along with the cops. But the way the clear obvious is stated throughout just makes you lose interest after a point of time.

‘Abraham Ozler’: Cast & Crew

Director: Midhun Manuel Thomas

Writer: Randheer Krishnan

Cast: Jayaram, Mammootty, Anoop Menon, Anaswara Rajan, Arjun Ashokan

Available On: Disney+ Hotstar

Duration: 2 hours 23 minutes

Languages: Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada

‘Abraham Ozler’: Can Kids Watch It?

No.

Outlook’s Verdict

The best part about ‘Abraham Ozler’ is the performance by Jayaram. The movie has an ensemble cast, all of whom are powerhouses of talent. They could have taken the film several notches higher if the script and the direction allowed them to. As I finished watching the film, all I could think was how much better the movie could have been if the same script was treated slightly differently. The script has the potential but the way it was directed was a letdown. The only good thing that I am taking away from this film apart from the performance is the ending. The ending left me with thoughts. The open ending will leave you feeling uneasy because you start wanting answers after the movie keeps showing and stating the obvious. I am going with 2.5 stars.