Drishyam 3 Review: Georgekutty Finally Runs Out Of Tricks

Drishyam 3 proves that even Georgekutty’s genius can’t outsmart the exhausting weight of a needlessly stretched franchise, mourns Sreeju Sudhakaran.

Almost every time I have had to review the third film in a trilogy, I have been forced to use Jean Grey’s prophetic line from X-Men: Apocalypse: ‘The third one is always the worst.’ Ironically, Apocalypse itself was the third film in that trilogy, and it was indeed the weakest, at least until Dark Phoenix came along and stole that crown.

So with Drishyam 3, I was hoping, like every Malayali surely was, that it would escape the dreaded threequel curse.

That director Jeethu Joseph would pull off a miracle for the second time.

Unfortunately and sadly, this is one of those times where your worst worries arrive right on schedule. Drishyam 3 ends up the weakest film in the franchise, one where the cracks in Georgekutty’s brilliant façade become too large to plaster over.

What’s Drishyam 3 About?

After earning a stunning reprieve in the previous film, Georgekutty goes ahead and makes the movie whose screenplay he used as a smokescreen to conceal his crimes in Drishyam 2.

The film, also titled Drishyam, turns into a blockbuster. Georgekutty is minting money, his family has regained some semblance of happiness, and he and his wife Rani (Meena) are now looking for a marriage alliance for their elder daughter Anju (Ansiba Hassan).

Geetha (Asha Sarath) and Prabhakar (Siddique) have relocated to the US, where Geetha has slipped into depression and become a recluse.

The police, while never officially closing the case, have largely given up on keeping tabs on Georgekutty.

Meanwhile, two reporters (Veena Nandakumar and Shiva Hariharan) are determined to investigate Varun’s murder independently.

Georgekutty, too, cannot shake off the feeling that someone else is secretly watching him, as he once again wrestles with his guilt and the burden of protecting his family.

Georgekutty’s Psychological Profile

Drishyam 2 was a brilliant sequel that cleverly used a fairly ordinary first half to build towards a sharp and thrilling second half filled with twists that left audiences stunned.

Georgekutty’s shrewdness and extraordinary foresight were showcased in delicious detail there.

There was one issue though.

Even as he outsmarted the police once again and safeguarded his family, it was difficult to ignore the breadcrumbs he had inadvertently left behind, traces that could potentially lead the investigation back to him, even if not easily.

So it was smart of Jeethu Joseph to pick up those loose ends and use them to drag Georgekutty back into an emotional and psychological battlefield. Unlike the second film, I actually found the first half of Drishyam 3 better structured, even if it still runs a little long.

Jeethu Joseph wisely keeps the focus firmly on Georgekutty because his disturbed psyche is central to everything that follows. We still see him making calculated moves, like helping out a former cop and an old witness to retain their confidence.

He continues to ensure his family only knows what is absolutely necessary, never allowing them access to the bigger picture.

What I particularly appreciated was how the film forces Georgekutty to confront the darker implications of his actions, how his obsessive need to protect his family also makes him appear cold and manipulative to himself.

In one scene, he confesses to a friend that his children, having evolved with changing times, may view his actions as homicidal. The film succeeds in capturing the fearful introspection of a man willing to go to any extent to protect his loved ones.

The journalists investigating the route he once travelled, the betrayal from a close aide, Anju’s marriage alliances getting broken and Georgekutty’s growing suspicion that someone else is operating behind the curtain all create a palpable sense of mystery.

And when a familiar face re-enters the narrative at the interval point, I was genuinely excited to see what Georgekutty, and through him, Jeethu Joseph, had planned for the second half.

Over-Complicated Plot and Character Dynamics

One thing I greatly admired about Drishyam 2 was how Jeethu Joseph portrayed the police in there.

IG Thomas Bastin (Murali Gopy) and his team were disciplined and methodical, admirably committed to procedure. Ironically, that professionalism also became their weakness against Georgekutty’s cunning. The reintroduction of this familiar character disrupts that balance and creates a far more aggressive threat to Georgekutty’s carefully crafted precautions.

At the same time, you can sense Drishyam 3 slipping into the very trap the previous film avoided by introducing a more conventional antagonist-driven conflict.

And honestly, that is nowhere near as engaging as the procedural net the police cast around Georgekutty and his family in the earlier film.

Yes, there is a twist explaining why this character returns. And the ensuing developments also create a sense of urgency for Georgekutty, who must simultaneously ensure his daughter’s marriage proceeds smoothly. But the supposedly ingenious plan devised by the antagonists feels too convoluted to be convincing, and Georgekutty’s countermeasures are equally difficult to buy into.

You could argue that his masterplan in Drishyam 2 was convoluted as well. True, but that plan still worked within the internal logic of the film, which is precisely why it stunned us.

Here, Jeethu Joseph’s writing begins to expose its seams because it struggles to justify Georgekutty’s ingenuity for a third time.

A Different Approach That Isn’t Completely Convincing

In his interviews, Jeethu Joseph had already warned audiences not to approach Drishyam 3 like the previous films, saying it leaned more heavily into emotion.

And he was right.

But that also felt like an indirect admission that this film would not be as smart as its predecessors, which is a dangerous compromise for a franchise built almost entirely on Georgekutty’s astonishing foresight and his ingenious cat-and-mouse games with the police.

There are several moments where you begin questioning why Georgekutty failed to anticipate factors he obviously should have monitored. Like keeping tabs on an old enemy.

His supposed masterstroke to protect his family in the third act emerges more out of chance than out of meticulous planning. There is a sense of melodrama in which Georgekutty tries to solve his problems, but that also makes his moves uncharacteristically odd from his past form.

I understand Jeethu Joseph wanting to return to the emotional roots of the original, but Georgekutty was supposed to have evolved beyond that point. You shaped him into a man who sees traps before they are laid.

There is also a moment where Drishyam 3 resorts to manipulative editing to revisit an inciting incident from altered perspectives. That was the moment I heartbreakingly realised the film itself was struggling to figure out how to conclude this saga.

Mohanlal’s Enduring Performance

The one consistently riveting aspect across all three films remains Mohanlal. It is astonishing how much emotion this phenomenal actor can communicate purely through his eyes. You can almost see the gears turning in Georgekutty’s mind even during silent scenes where he merely listens to conversations.

And what presence he commands! There is a moment where he simply stands beneath a doorway, yet the rage radiating from him fills the frame.

Even when the film stumbles badly in the third act, Mohanlal keeps trying to hold it together with his terrific display of restrained acting.

Meena, Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil are effective in their roles, with Esther standing out more as the progressive voice within the family.

Veena Nandakumar initially seems poised to play a crucial role during the investigation portions, only for the screenplay to forget her later on.

Siddique’s character surprised me, though in a mixed manner. Some spoilers ahead: He had been one of the most upright figures in the previous films, so the U-turn he takes here genuinely caught me off guard.

The reasoning behind it is understandable, but how Jeethu portrays his change of personality lacks conviction.

Asha Sarath has very little to do this time around, while Murali Gopy’s Thomas Bastin spends more time reacting to developments rather than driving them.

Unlike the previous two films, which had proper conclusions while still leaving slight ambiguity, Drishyam 3 ends with blatant sequel bait. This time, the desperation to keep stretching the franchise becomes painfully transparent.

And much like one character tells another in the finale, I felt like saying the same thing to Jeethu Joseph, ‘Just let it be, just let it be.’

Let Georgekutty finally have his peace.