# Cadaver (2022 film)
**Cadaver** (Tamil: கடாவர்) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language forensic crime thriller directed by Anoop S Panicker, written by Abhilash Pillai, and starring [Amala Paul](https://www.edgepedia.org/amala-paul) as a police surgeon investigating a series of murders. It was released directly on the streaming service [Disney+ Hotstar](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-hotstar) on 12 August 2022 and marked Amala Paul's debut as a producer.[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) • [2](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2022/jul/31/trailer-for-amala-pauls-forensic-thriller-cadaver-is-out-33264.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writer | Anoop S Panicker (directorial debut); story by Abhilash Pillai[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) |
| Lead and producer | Amala Paul as Dr Bhadra, a police surgeon; her first film as producer under Amala Paul Productions[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) |
| Release | Disney+ Hotstar, 12 August 2022, in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam[2](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2022/jul/31/trailer-for-amala-pauls-forensic-thriller-cadaver-is-out-33264.html) |
| CBFC certification | UA, certified 18 May 2022, runtime 121.27 minutes, for video release[3](https://www.cbfcindia.gov.in/cbfcAdmin/assets/pdf/CC_Issued_2022.pdf) |
| Source inspiration | The book *Oru Police Surgeonte Ormakkurippukal* by the forensic surgeon Dr B Umadattan[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) |
| Key crew | Music Ranjin Raj; cinematography Aravind Singh; editing San Lokesh[4](https://filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/cadaver/cast-crew.html) |
| Audience rating | 6.5/10 on IMDb from about 4,200 users[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11102262) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and premise
The film follows Dr Bhadra (Amala Paul), a police surgeon and forensic specialist, who investigates a high-profile murder. A prison inmate who has not left his cell for years claims responsibility for the killing and promises more deaths, and the clues in a series of mysterious homicides point toward him.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cadaver_2022_2) • [7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2022/Aug/12/cadaver-movie-reviewshoddy-writing-pulls-down-this-technically-brilliant-whodunit-33682.html) The trailer presented the case of a young girl's gang rape and murder, opening with a voice message from the killer.[2](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2022/jul/31/trailer-for-amala-pauls-forensic-thriller-cadaver-is-out-33264.html)
Amala Paul plays the central character alongside [Harish Uthaman](https://www.edgepedia.org/harish-uthaman) as ACP Vishal, Munishkanth as Inspector Michael, Athulya Ravi as Angel, Thrigun as Vetri, and Riythvika Panneerselvam.[4](https://filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/cadaver/cast-crew.html) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11102262)
## Development and production
**Origins in forensic medicine.** Panicker and Pillai based the fictional script on *Oru Police Surgeonte Ormakkurippukal*, a book by Dr B Umadattan, a forensic surgeon who shared his real-life experiences with the filmmakers before his death in 2019. The director also said the pair visited Trivandrum Medical College and observed post-mortem examinations to study how surgeons work, and that forensic surgeons told them dead bodies figuratively speak to them.[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) [The Indian Express](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-indian-express) reported that the director had spent more than two years researching forensic sciences for the story and that Dr Umadathan was mentoring the production.[9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/amala-paul-turns-producer-with-cadaver-5658612/lite/)
The film's first look drew on a specific incident: Abhilash Pillai's brother died by suicide in 2010, and when Pillai went to collect the body at the mortuary he saw a surgeon eating food among the dead bodies. That image inspired the first-look poster, which shows Amala Paul eating in a mortuary, and the film is mostly set in a mortuary.[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/)
**Casting and production.** After finishing the script, the filmmakers approached Amala Paul; after a narration lasting about two and a half hours she agreed to star and decided to produce the film, making Cadaver the first release of her Amala Paul Productions banner.[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) Annice Paul and Thanzeer Salam co-produced.[2](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2022/jul/31/trailer-for-amala-pauls-forensic-thriller-cadaver-is-out-33264.html) Shooting began in March 2019, with cinematography by Aravinnd Singh and locations including Chennai and Kerala; the film was in final post-production by late 2021.[1](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/) Moviebuff lists additional filming in [Coimbatore](https://www.edgepedia.org/coimbatore), Tamil Nadu.[10](https://www.moviebuff.com/cadaver-2022-tamil) Amala Paul adopted a pixie haircut for the role.[9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/amala-paul-turns-producer-with-cadaver-5658612/lite/)
The film was originally written as a Malayalam feature and was later rewritten for Tamil, a change Amala Paul discussed in interviews; the Cinema Express reviewer connected this to dialogue that he found verbose.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2022/Aug/12/cadaver-movie-reviewshoddy-writing-pulls-down-this-technically-brilliant-whodunit-33682.html)
## Release
The [Central Board of Film Certification](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-board-of-film-certification) certified the film UA on 18 May 2022 with a listed runtime of 121.27 minutes, for video release.[3](https://www.cbfcindia.gov.in/cbfcAdmin/assets/pdf/CC_Issued_2022.pdf) The trailer was released on 31 July 2022, and the film premiered on Disney+ Hotstar on 12 August 2022 in five languages: Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, and Malayalam.[2](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2022/jul/31/trailer-for-amala-pauls-forensic-thriller-cadaver-is-out-33264.html) TMDB lists the runtime as 1 hour 59 minutes.[11](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1006463)
## Reception
**Critical response.** The Times of India gave the film 3.0 out of 5, calling it a medical thriller that is mostly intense and intriguing with the right mood and tone, but noting that it becomes predictable halfway through, with the post-interval portion relying on flashbacks apart from one twist the reviewer called intelligent.[12](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/cadaver/ottmoviereview/93453076.cms) Cinema Express rated it 2 out of 5, praising the work of cinematographer Aravind Singh, editor San Lokesh, and composer Ranjin Raj while criticizing the screenplay's loopholes, including that the film never explains why a principal character is serving a life sentence.[7](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2022/Aug/12/cadaver-movie-reviewshoddy-writing-pulls-down-this-technically-brilliant-whodunit-33682.html) FilmiBeat called it a watchable crime thriller with bright moments despite clumsy making, predictability, and logical loopholes, and praised Harish Uthaman's performance as ACP Vishal.[13](https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/reviews/2022/cadaver-movie-review-amala-paul-s-crime-thriller-is-clumsy-but-watchable-339024.html)
**Audience ratings.** IMDb shows 6.5/10 from about 4,200 users.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11102262) The aggregator Cinegraph, combining IMDb, TMDb, and Rotten Tomatoes signals, labels the film a "polarizer," with audience and critics divided, and computes a score of 2.1 out of 10 at medium confidence.[14](https://cinegraph.org/movies/cadaver-2022)
## Context
Cadaver belongs to a run of women-led Tamil thrillers that went straight to streaming: a Nowrunning review places it after Keerthi Suresh's *[Penguin](https://www.edgepedia.org/penguin-film)* (2020) and Nayanthara's *O2*, noting that all three are thrillers whose theatrical prospects were debated.[15](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/25933/tamil/cadaver/11895/review/) In an August 2022 interview with The New Indian Express, Amala Paul described producing the film as one of the risks she had taken and spoke of her vision for women-centric films.[16](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2022/Aug/18/imagine-kgf-with-a-woman-as-the-protagonist-2488509.html)
## References
1. [Cadaver: Amala Paul's First Production is a Forensic Thriller Inspired by the Book 'Oru Police Surgeonte Ormakkurippukal', Silverscreen India (2 November 2021, archived)](https://silverscreenindia.com/movies/news/cadaver-amala-paul-first-production-to-be-a-forensic-thriller-inspired-by-the-book-oru-police-surgeonte-ormakkurippukal/)
2. [Trailer for Amala Paul's forensic thriller Cadaver is out, Cinema Express (31 July 2022)](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/news/2022/jul/31/trailer-for-amala-pauls-forensic-thriller-cadaver-is-out-33264.html)
3. [List of films certified by the CBFC in 2022, Central Board of Film Certification](https://www.cbfcindia.gov.in/cbfcAdmin/assets/pdf/CC_Issued_2022.pdf)
4. [Cadaver Cast & Crew, FilmiBeat](https://filmibeat.com/tamil/movies/cadaver/cast-crew.html)
5. [Cadaver (2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11102262)
6. [Cadaver (2022), Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/cadaver_2022_2)
7. [Cadaver Movie Review: Shoddy writing pulls down this technically brilliant whodunit, Cinema Express (12 August 2022)](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/tamil/review/2022/Aug/12/cadaver-movie-reviewshoddy-writing-pulls-down-this-technically-brilliant-whodunit-33682.html)
8. [Cadaver (2022), The Movie Database](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1006463)
9. [Amala Paul turns producer with Cadaver, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/tamil/amala-paul-turns-producer-with-cadaver-5658612/lite/)
10. [Cadaver (2022), Moviebuff](https://www.moviebuff.com/cadaver-2022-tamil)
11. [Cadaver (2022), The Movie Database](https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1006463)
12. [Cadaver Movie Review: Cadaver is thrilling in parts, The Times of India (11 August 2022)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/cadaver/ottmoviereview/93453076.cms)
13. [Cadaver Movie Review: Amala Paul's Crime Thriller Is Clumsy But Watchable, FilmiBeat (12 August 2022)](https://www.filmibeat.com/tamil/reviews/2022/cadaver-movie-review-amala-paul-s-crime-thriller-is-clumsy-but-watchable-339024.html)
14. [Cadaver, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/cadaver-2022)
15. [Cadaver Review: Cadaver has a good plot but bad direction, Nowrunning (14 August 2022)](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/25933/tamil/cadaver/11895/review/)
16. ['Imagine KGF with a woman as the protagonist', The New Indian Express (18 August 2022)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2022/Aug/18/imagine-kgf-with-a-woman-as-the-protagonist-2488509.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Tamil films of the 2020s › Tamil films of 2022 and 2023*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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