Eko

Plot

Mohan Pothan arrives at a lodge near the Kerala-Karnataka border, looking for the house of a friend named Kuriachan, a high-profile criminal who has gone missing. Appootty takes him by jeep to Kuriachan's remote estate in the Western Ghats, where Pothan tells him that his intention is to procure a rare dog breed that Kuriachan had brought from Malaysia many years ago and to attract the males of which he has brought a female Husky.

Kuriachan's Malaysian-origin wife, Mlaathi, lives in the estate with a househelp named Peeyoos. Peeyoos is visited by an unnamed man from Mangaluru claiming to be from the Navy, who says he was involved with Kuriachan but reveals nothing more. He offers Peeyoos a hefty reward for any information about Kuriachan. Mlaathi reveals to Peeyoos that her real name is Soyi. Kuriachan and Mohan Pothan had visited Soyi's house in British Malaya during World War II to study her husband's purebred dogs. After her husband's death in a Japanese attack, Soyi was trapped in her house as her husband's dogs never let her out of the house nor let anyone inside. Kuriachan saved Soyi by killing all the adult dogs, then Kuriachan married her and brought her home with him, along with the few pure-bred puppies who survived. Peeyoos immediately tells this to the man from the Navy, and Appootty reveals that Pothan had died and his dead body had been found, presumably fallen off the cliff, and the Husky seemed to have starved to death. Peeyoos is apprehended by Sukumaran and Soman, two loggers, who have discovered that Peeyoos's identity is fake. They allege that Peeyoos is after Kuriachan too, and suspect that he killed Mohan Pothan, whose actual intention was also finding Kuriachan. Peeyoos denies it, saying that though Peeyoos followed Mohan Pothan, it was a dog that pushed Pothan off the ledge.

The Navykkaran, who had been investigating in parallel, finds out the letters apparently from Kuriachan were sent by Appootty, who was tasked with sending them from various post offices by Kuriachan before he disappeared. He visits Mlaathi. Mlaathi tells Navy man that Pothan had visited her 6 years ago, one week prior to Kuriachan's disappearance, and that Pothan enquired about Kuriachan and left. Soon after, Pothan was arrested and subsequently in jail for 5-6 years. It is common knowledge that Kuriachan was behind Pothan's imprisonment in that case. Even though Mlaathi doesn't reveal anything more about Pothan's visit on that day, the audience are shown that Pothan had, in that visit, told Mlaathi that her Malaysian husband wasn't actually killed by the Japanese, but instead was framed and jailed by Kuriachan, and the duo had made up the story of his death so that Kuriachan could marry her. Pothan also went ahead to say Kuriachan had promised to share her with Pothan but went back on his word. Pothan also said that Kuriachan who loved dogs killed so many of them to save her not because of his love for her but because of his ego being shattered seeing the superior training which Mlaathi's Malaysian husband had given to his dogs. When Mlaathi questioned Kuriachan about this when he came home on the night of his disappearance, Kuriachan admitted to imprisoning her Malaysian husband but said he did it for love. In the present, the man from the Navy reveals that her househelp's identity is fake and he also could actually be Kuriachan's right-hand young man, who has done many crimes for Kuriachan.

Production

Eko̅ has director Dinjith Ayyath and writer–cinematographer Bahul Ramesh collaborating once again. The film's technical crew includes Mujeeb Majeed as the music composer, Sooraj E.S. as the editor, and Sajeesh Thamarassery as the art director.

The project is the first production under Aaradyaa Studios by MRK Jhayaram. Filming started in April 2025 and concluded by mid-June 2025. The film released on 21 November 2025.

Release

Theatrical

The film had a worldwide theatrical release in 21 November 2025 in EPIQ formats clashing with Vilayath Buddha.

Home media

The film began streaming on Netflix from 31 December 2025.

Reception

Sanjay Ponnappa of India Today described the film as "a slow-paced thriller that lands a strong final twist." Prathyush Parasuraman of The Hollywood Reporter India called it "one of the year's most accomplished, immersive films." Sajin Srijith of The Week labelled it "a truly outstanding triumph of mystery storytelling." Swathi P Ajith of Onmanorama stated that the film "feels more like a long walk through a foggy forest where every turn reveals something new." Goutham S of Pinkvilla described it as "a riveting mystery thriller that redefines the thin line between protection and restriction."

Dhanya K Vilayil of The Indian Express praised it as "an international-level Malayalam film." Richa Barua of Asianet Newsable called it "an unpredictable mystery thriller." S.R. Praveen of The Hindu gave the film a positive review calling it a "solid mystery thriller" and praised the technical aspects of the film. Jay in Medium gave the film a positive review, calling it "a gripping study of guilt, silence, and shifting power, built on cleverly crafted flashbacks and a devastating moment of reckoning."