Maranamass Movie Review: Basil Joseph starrer blends black comedy and spoof, offering sporadic laughs
If planning to watch Basil Joseph’s dark humor flick Maranamass on OTT, here’s the Pinkvilla review!

Name: Maranamass
Director: Sivaprasad
Cast: Basil Joseph, Siju Sunny, Babu Antony, Anishma Anilkumar, Suresh Krishna, Rajesh Madhavan, Tovino Thomas, Guru Somasundaram
Writer: Sivaprasad, Siju Sunny
Rating: 3/5
Maranamass, starring Basil Joseph in the lead role, hit the big screens on April 10, 2025. A month after its release, the film is available for streaming on SonyLIV.
If you’re planning to watch the movie online, here’s the Pinkvilla review for the same.
The Plot
Maranamass is a Malayalam-language black comedy that showcases Kerala under the fear of a serial killer. He is known to be kidnapping old men, hammering them, and sticking a banana inside their mouths, leading him to be nicknamed “Banana Killer.”
While a top cop is investigating the murder, it leads him to suspect a young man named Luke PP, a menace to society. As the entire movie leads the central characters inside a bus, the rest of the story focuses on whether the true serial killer is caught or not.
The Good
Maranamass is a movie that is packed with the elements of dark humor. From a writing perspective, the movie manages to comprehend the elements of humor and spoof in a genre-mixing attempt.
Experimental from the start itself, this Basil Joseph starrer offers some comical moments that manage to stay with you throughout. Another positive thing about the film is that Maranamass doesn’t rely solely on the lead actor, unlike recent ventures.
Instead of making Basil Joseph do the heavy lifting, the movie has actors like Siju Sunny, Rajesh Madhavan, and Suresh Krishna packing quite the punch with their skills and comic timing.
Coming to the technical aspects, the writing is aided by the directorial skills of the debutant filmmaker, Sivaprasad. Moreover, Neeraj Revi’s cinematography adds more nuance to this quirky movie, with JK extending the flavor with his musical prowess.
The Bad
Maranamass offers quite a spectacle with its experimental style of narrative, but the film fails to maintain the initial momentum it started off with. Like many films, this one also becomes a victim of the second-half curse, leaving us wondering if it would have been better with a shorter runtime.
With the story offering a new element of fun, the movie’s comedy also falls flat after a point, making us feel tired of its effects. While most performances of the movie were fun to watch, Maranamass would have been effective with crisper editing.
The Performance
Maranamass with Basil Joseph is headlined with a rather quirky and mad style of performance. With the actor having quite a track record with his skills, the movie was effective at points due to his supporting cast, including the recent actress Anishma Anilkumar.
Watch the trailer for Maranamass:
The Verdict
Maranamass is a humorous attempt that offers something new and unusual. If you’re expecting a good watch with sporadic laughs, the film is worth watching at least once.