Eko (film)

Eko (stylised as ekō) is a 2025 Indian Malayalam-language mystery thriller film directed by Dinjith Ayyathan and written and shot by Bahul Ramesh. The film is produced by MRK Jhayaram under the banner Aaradyaa Studios, marking the studio's debut production. It features Sandeep Pradeep, Vineeth, Narain, Binu Pappu, and Biana Momin in prominent roles.^[4]

Principal photography began in April 2025 and concluded in mid-June 2025, with filming extensively carried out in the Idukki district of Kerala. The film was released on 21 November 2025 to received positive reviews from critics and audiences. With a budget of 5 crore, Eko was a major commercial success at the box office, grossing more than 40 crore.

Eko serves as the third and final instalment of Bahul Ramesh's Animal Trilogy, following Kishkindha Kaandam (2024) and Kerala Crime Files 2 (2025).^[5]

Mohan Pothan arrives at a lodge near the Kerala-Karnataka border, looking for the house of a friend named Kuriachan, a high-profile criminal who has gone missing. Appootty takes him by jeep to Kuriachan's remote estate in the Western Ghats, where Pothan tells him that his intention is to procure a rare dog breed that Kuriachan brought from Malaysia many years ago, to attract the males of which he has brought a female Husky. Pothan's dead body is found soon, presumably fallen off the cliff, and the Husky seems to have starved to death.

Kuriachan's Malaysian-origin wife, Mlaathi, lives in the estate with a houseshelp named Peeyious. Peeyious is visited by a man from Mangaluru claiming to be from the Navy, who says he was involved with Kuriachan but reveals nothing more. He offers Peeyious a hefty reward if for any information about Kuriachan. Mlaathi reminisces to Peeyious that her real name is Soyi. Kuriachan and the deceased Mohan Pothan visited Soyi's house in British Malaya during World War II to study her husband's purebred dogs. After his death in a Japanese attack, Kuriachan married Soyi and brought her back home. He immediately leaks this to the man from the Navy.

Peeyious is apprehended by Soman and Sukumaran, two loggers, who have discovered that Peeyious's identity is fake. They allege that Peeyious is after Kuriachan too, and suspects that he killed Mohan Pothan, whose actual intention was also finding Kuriachan. Peeyious denies it, saying that it was a dog that pushed Kuriachan off the ledge. Soman says he knows about a cave near the Karnataka border, and wonders if this is Kuriachan's hiding spot where he survives off food brought by his trained dogs.

When the three of them reach the spot of the supposed cave, Soman and Sukumaran reveal themselves to be undercover cops and attempt to arrest Peeyious, whom they now know to be Kuriachan's unnamed 'Bodyguard'. In the ensuing scuffle, both slowly die, and Peeyious reveals that he was radicalized after he saw the mangled remains of his Maoist parents who were killed in an explosion.

The man from the Navy, who has been investigating parallelly, visits Mlaathi. He has found out that the letters apparently from Kuriachan were sent by Appootty, who was tasked with sending them from various post offices by Kuriachan before he disappeared. She tells him that Pothan once told her during a scuffle, many years ago, that her old husband wasn't actually dead, and that the two made up the story so that Kuriachan could marry her. The man from the Navy reveals that her househelp is actually Kuriachan's Bodyguard. Mlaathi tells Peeyious that she has learned his true identity and asks whether his intentions are to kill her. He says no—at least, not until he has reason to.

Meanwhile, the man from Mangalore begins to piece together the clues and recollect past incidents that point toward the twist: Kuriachan was never the master of the dogs—Mlaathi was. Peeyious also starts to realise the truth as he watches Mlaathi scanning the hills through her binoculars. Peeyious thinks of killing her, but withdraws after seeing a horde of dogs surrounding him.

• Sandeep Pradeep as Pious
• Biana Momin as Malaathi "Mlaathi" Chettathi.^[6]
• Narain as Navykkaran
• Saurabh Sachdeva as Kuriachan
• Vineeth as Mohan Pothan
• Sim Zhi Fei as Soyi^[7]
• Ashokan as Appootty
• Binu Pappu as Sukumaran
• Ranjith Shekhar as Soman
• Saheer Muhammed as Pappachan
• Ng Hung Shen as Yosiah, Soyi's husband

Eko̅ has director Dinjith Ayyath and writer–cinematographer Bahul Ramesh collaborating once again.^[8][9] The film's technical crew includes Mujeeb Majeed as the music composer, Sooraj E.S. as the editor, and Sajeesh Thamarassery as the art director.

The project is the first production under Aaradyaa Studios by MRK Jhayaram. Filming started in April 2025 and concluded by mid-June 2025. The film released on 21 November 2025.

The film had a worldwide theatrical release in November 21, 2025 in EPIQ formats clashing with Vilayath Buddha.^[10]

The film will began streaming on Netflix from 31 December 2025.^[11]

The film received highly positive reviews from critics.

Sanjay Ponnappa of India Today described the film as "a slow-paced thriller that lands a strong final twist."^[12]

Prathyush Parasuraman of The Hollywood Reporter India called it "one of the year's most accomplished, immersive films."^[13]

Sajin Srijith of The Week labelled it "a truly outstanding triumph of mystery storytelling."^[14]

Swathi P Ajith of Onmanorama stated that the film "feels more like a long walk through a foggy forest where every turn reveals something new."^[15]

Goutham S of Pinkvilla described it as "a riveting mystery thriller that redefines the thin line between protection and restriction."^[16]

Dhanya K Vilayil of The Indian Express praised it as "an international-level Malayalam film."^[17]

Richa Barua of Asianet Newsable called it "an unpredictable mystery thriller."^[18]

S.R. Praveen of The Hindu gave the film a positive review calling it a "solid mystery thriller" and praised the technical aspects of the film.^[19]

Jay in Medium gave the film a positive review, calling it “a gripping study of guilt, silence, and shifting power, built on cleverly crafted flashbacks and a devastating moment of reckoning.”^[20]

Eko at IMDb

K.M. Seethi (2025). Ekō: How The Soft Edges Of Protection Turn To Power – OpEd. Eurasia Review, 7 December.