Cold Case review: Prithviraj Sukumaran's thriller is too silly to be taken seriously

Cinematographer-turned-filmmaker Tanu Balak’s Cold Case (2021) happens to be the first Prithviraj Sukumaran film to skip theatres and be released directly on Amazon Prime, owing to the current pandemic situation. Despite being set up as a police procedural and a paranormal thriller, the film doesn’t quite make a solid impact. 

When a skull wrapped in a trash bag is found in a fisherman’s net, it makes headlines. Assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Sathyajith (Prithviraj) is tasked with investigating the case. Apparently, a murder was committed over a year ago and the skull belongs to the person whose identity is still unknown. As Sathyajith puts together his team to uncover the identity of the victim and the killer, we are introduced to Medha (Aditi Balan), an investigative journalist, who moves into a new home in the city with her young daughter. Soon, Medha starts feeling an invisible presence in her home. At one point, both sub-plots converge and what follows forms the crux of the film. 

The central plot of the film makes for a very engaging investigative thriller. But there’s a parallel story about a soul seeking revenge that doesn’t work. On paper, the idea to have a story told in two parallel threads may sound interesting; however, the execution isn’t convincing. It would’ve made sense if the film was either an investigative thriller or a supernatural thriller. Somehow, the attempt to merge genres only complicates what could’ve otherwise been a cracker of a thriller. Also, the story somehow focuses more on Prithviraj’s character as he also happens to be a star. Prithviraj ends up cracking most of the case and there’s very little left for Medha to do. In the end, her sub-plot hardly makes any impact and leaves one scratching their head. 

Prithviraj looks smart and fit as ACP, but his performance largely remains one-note. One isn’t sure if it was a deliberate attempt to make him act a certain way. He was last seen in Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2020), and it’s a film that brought out the best in him. Aditi, in her Malayalam debut, looks clueless for the most part and feels like a miscast. Unlike most thrillers involving a murderer, Cold Case is centred on a female killer and that’s a rarity in mainstream cinema. As much as it was refreshing to see a cold-blooded female killer, it was still disappointing that the role was poorly written. 

Cold Case is now being streamed on Amazon Prime.