# Rorschach (film)
**Rorschach** (റോഷാക്ക്) is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language psychological thriller directed by Nisam Basheer, written by Sameer Abdul, and starring [Mammootty](https://www.edgepedia.org/mammootty) as Luke Antony, a man with a mysterious past who seeks revenge against those who harmed his family[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/rorschach-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda4mzix) • [2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html). Mammootty produced the film himself under his banner Mammootty Kampany, and it was released in Indian cinemas on 7 October 2022 with a U/A certificate[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html). The title refers to the Rorschach inkblot test used by psychologists for analysis and profiling, and the film plays on that idea: what the viewer sees in its protagonist is largely their own inference[3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/May/04/first-look-ofmammoottys-next-thriller-rorschach-out-2449344.html) • [4](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/rorschach/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Film | Malayalam-language psychological thriller, 2022; original title റോഷാക്ക്[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html) • [5](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rorschach) |
| Director and writer | Nisam Basheer (his second film after *Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha*); screenplay by Sameer Abdul[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html) |
| Lead and producer | Mammootty as Luke Antony; produced under Mammootty Kampany, distributed by Wayfarer Films[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rorschach) |
| Release | 7 October 2022 (India), U/A certificate; UK classification 14 October 2022[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html) • [1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/rorschach-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda4mzix) |
| Runtime | About 2 hours 30 minutes (BBFC: 149 minutes)[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/rorschach-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda4mzix) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rorschach) |
| Principal cast | Mammootty, Grace Antony (Sujatha), Asif Ali (Dileep), Jagadish (Ashraf), Bindu Panicker (Seetha), Sharafudheen (Satheeshan)[7](https://tv.apple.com/qa/movie/rorschach/umc.cmc.6dp631osl3waleo8f42gz95v1) |
| Streaming | Disney+ Hotstar from November 2022; later available on JioHotstar[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html) • [9](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/26406/rorschach/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Luke Antony, an NRI (non-Resident Indian, an Indian living abroad) from the United Kingdom, drives himself to the police station of a remote town and reports that his pregnant wife, Sofia (Ira Noor), has been missing since his car was involved in a crash[10](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/rorschach-movie-114197) • [11](https://www.ottplay.com/news/three-years-of-rorschach-heres-why-you-should-watch-this-acclaimed-mammootty-starrer/3008c44c6e881). He is the only person who believes she is still alive after weeks of fruitless investigation, and he chooses to stay in the village[11](https://www.ottplay.com/news/three-years-of-rorschach-heres-why-you-should-watch-this-acclaimed-mammootty-starrer/3008c44c6e881). His search leads him to the Balan family, and as he grows closer to them, strange and increasingly frightening events begin to occur[4](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/rorschach/).
What the movie is truly asking is not the woman's whereabouts but the reason Luke has come, and that answer stays hidden from the audience for quite a while[4](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/rorschach/). Luke is quiet, calculating, and hard to read; the camera follows him closely and gives little of his intent away[4](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/rorschach/). The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) summarizes the story as a mystery in which "a man with a mysterious past seeks revenge against those who harmed his family"[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/rorschach-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda4mzix).
## Production
**Development and crew.** Rorschach was the second film directed by Nisam Basheer, whose debut was the 2019 Asif Ali starrer *Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha*[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html). Screenwriter Sameer Abdul had previously written *Adventures of Omanakuttan* and *Iblis*[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html). The technical crew included cinematographer Nimish Ravi (*Luca*, *Kurup*), editor Kiran Das, composer Midhun Mukundan, sound designer Nixon George, stunt choreographer Supreme Sundar, and art director Shaji Naduvil[2](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html). NM Badusha served as co-producer[3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/May/04/first-look-ofmammoottys-next-thriller-rorschach-out-2449344.html).
**Filming.** After the Kerala schedule, including portions shot in Kochi, ended on 14 June 2022, the team moved to Dubai for a final two-week schedule[12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/malayalam/2022/Jul/02/mammoottys-rorschachby-nissam-basheer-wraps-up-shoot-in-dubai-2471909.html).
**Writing process.** In a November 2022 interview, Sameer Abdul said the first conception was darker: the story originally opened with Luke dying with a smile, a man trapped in hallucinations who could not give a ghost his comeuppance, and the writers reworked it to lighten the load for a wider audience[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html). The early drafts imagined a smaller film with only Luke, Sujatha (Grace Antony), and Dileep (Asif Ali); Bindu Panicker's character Seetha was added only after many rounds of discussion, having been little more than Dileep's mother until that point[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html). Abdul and Basheer also considered developing the material as a web series if a good offer had come, because the film hops between characters and starts each of their stories at the midpoint of their arcs[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html).
## Style and reception
Critics described the film as a genre blend. A Cinema Express review called it "part revenge thriller, part gothic ghost story, part dysfunctional family drama, part dark comedy, and part crime noir", rated it 4 out of 5, and noted that beneath the genre-blending sit three families with ideological and temperamental differences and an astonishing capacity for evil[13](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/review/2022/oct/07/rorschach-movie-review-mammootty-captivates-in-a-refreshingly-twisted-gothic-revenge-thriller-35387.html). The same review praised Nimish Ravi's cinematography, in which blacks and greys dominate the palette and Luke's residence resembles a grim mausoleum, and highlighted Midhun Mukundan's use of English songs in the soundtrack[13](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/review/2022/oct/07/rorschach-movie-review-mammootty-captivates-in-a-refreshingly-twisted-gothic-revenge-thriller-35387.html).
**An unsympathetic protagonist.** Commentators singled out the film's refusal to make its central man sympathetic. Pulse of Cinema wrote that Rorschach departs from the revenge thrillers of [Malayalam cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/malayalam-cinema) because it does not try to make Luke likeable, and that, like the inkblot test it takes its name from, what the viewer sees is largely their own inference[4](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/rorschach/). Abdul said audiences would not have accepted a protagonist who does not follow a positive trajectory a few years earlier, and that the film keeps some things deliberately open to multiple interpretation[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html). The BBFC content advice reflects the film's dark register: moderate violence including beatings with rocks, hammers, and lead pipes, jump scares involving a ghost and a man in a bloodied balaclava, injury detail, verbal references to suicide, and a scene of sexual threat[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/rorschach-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda4mzix).
**Awards and afterlife.** The film earned Mammootty a 2023 SIIMA nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Malayalam)[14](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/rorschach/2060159797/). It began streaming on [Disney+ Hotstar](https://www.edgepedia.org/disney-hotstar) in November 2022 after its theatrical run[8](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html), and by 2025 it was available on JioHotstar and OTTplay Premium, with retrospective coverage marking three years since release and calling it critically praised[11](https://www.ottplay.com/news/three-years-of-rorschach-heres-why-you-should-watch-this-acclaimed-mammootty-starrer/3008c44c6e881). The announcement of a Malayalam film titled Rorschach in 2022 also prompted social media discussion and queries about the actual inkblot test[15](https://groupits.cm/uploads/fck/file/fijuxewasorefe.pdf).
## References
1. [Rorschach, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/rorschach-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmda4mzix)
2. [Rorschach slated for release on October 7, The New Indian Express (1 October 2022)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/oct/01/rorschach-slated-forrelease-on-october-7-2503671.html)
3. [First look of Mammootty's next thriller Rorschach out, The New Indian Express (4 May 2022)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2022/May/04/first-look-ofmammoottys-next-thriller-rorschach-out-2449344.html)
4. [Rorschach (2022): Plot, Cast & Rating, Pulse of Cinema](https://pulseofcinema.com/en/film/rorschach/)
5. [Rorschach streaming: where to watch online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rorschach)
6. [Rorschach, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/rorschach)
7. [Rorschach, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/qa/movie/rorschach/umc.cmc.6dp631osl3waleo8f42gz95v1)
8. [Deep dive into Rorschach with writer Sameer Abdul, Cinema Express (14 November 2022)](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/interviews/2022/Nov/14/deep-dive-into-rorschach-with-writer-sameer-abdul-36636.html)
9. [Rorschach (2022), Nowrunning](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/26406/rorschach/)
10. [Rorschach Movie (2022), Gadgets 360](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/rorschach-movie-114197)
11. [Three years of Rorschach, OTTplay (7 October 2025)](https://www.ottplay.com/news/three-years-of-rorschach-heres-why-you-should-watch-this-acclaimed-mammootty-starrer/3008c44c6e881)
12. [Mammootty's Rorschach by Nissam Basheer wraps up shoot in Dubai, The New Indian Express (2 July 2022)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/malayalam/2022/Jul/02/mammoottys-rorschachby-nissam-basheer-wraps-up-shoot-in-dubai-2471909.html)
13. [Rorschach Movie Review, Cinema Express (7 October 2022)](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/malayalam/review/2022/oct/07/rorschach-movie-review-mammootty-captivates-in-a-refreshingly-twisted-gothic-revenge-thriller-35387.html)
14. [Rorschach, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/rorschach/2060159797/)
15. [What is the ink blot test (retrieved document)](https://groupits.cm/uploads/fck/file/fijuxewasorefe.pdf)
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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) › Malayalam films of the 2020s › Malayalam 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 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license