Abraham Ozler follows the story of a depressed cop investigating a mysterious case behind the string of murders taking place at multiple hospitals with the same kind of modus operandi. Who is the killer? The story isn’t novel at all but what again impressed me was the treatment of the thriller in terms of the world building that kept me on tenterhooks most for most parts of the runtime. The writing had the right kind of complexity to it to stimulate your cerebral senses even as you find yourself ‘aiding’ the protagonist in the investigation. However, the issue lay in the revelation and the extended flashback that lowers the impact of the film other than contributing to an additional 30 minutes in an otherwise tight screenplay of 140 minutes. 

The drama begins on an interesting note with respect to the characterization of the protagonist wherein you are acquainted with the current state of the protagonist following an incident featuring his family. The entire sequence of events are thrilling that immediately suck you into the world of Abraham Ozler even before the core investigation begins. And once the string of grizzly murders begin to kick in, you are already on the ball as far as the investigation that ensues. As is the case with most Malayalam investigative dramas, the narrative is packed with a lot of detailing that in turn leads to multiple trails which is something that keeps you invested in the drama. 

The proceedings are interesting and engrossing particularly when the ongoing investigation starts narrowing down to the suspects. The ambience created was wonderful while also giving the ‘suspect’ an attire that raises the excitement levels in the drama. So when there was a revelation at the halfway mark, I was curious on what would transpire next as things were setup pretty well for the second hour. The second hour doesn’t exactly disappoint too, atleast halfway through with multiple twists and turns that further engage you in the narrative. The issue creeps in with about 30 odd minutes remaining on the clock that dips the drama further. 

It was a little strange for me that the grand revelation did take place with more than 30 minutes to go. And the issue for me from here on was that the drama did become predictable with even the tone of the drama deviating towards being a medical thriller. It wasn’t too hard to join the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle from there on, which meant that the writing should have contrived the extended flashback by limiting it to not more than 10 minutes(on a very generous note). An alternative to this could also have been to change the narrative structure of the film by showcasing two timelines, only for both to meet. That would have kept the ‘mystery’ around the drama longer than it eventually did. A little setup at the end does promise this film to branch out into a franchise which was a welcome move for sure. But overall, the screenplay is thrilling until the final 30 minutes kick in which kind of dilutes the overall impact of the drama.