‘John Doe’ Movie Review: Madhumita finds her footing with a slick, effective thriller

They say we are what our fathers leave behind. The latest Tamil film John Doe revolves around fathers of all kinds – one who fed his child with shame and venom, one who could not stand by his daughter and one who takes care of the child’s wife. Even though they are absent, or because of this absence, some of these fathers continue to shape the lives of their children.

That’s why, while John Doe revolves around the mysterious murder of an eight-year-old boy, director Madhumita begins her story elsewhere—with another boy in a different era who grows up listening to his terrorizing, poisonous policeman father humiliate him on a daily basis. A child can’t eat as much as he wants, can’t get anything less than first place, and can’t even cry at his mother’s funeral.

As fate would have it, Chandru (Arjun Das) becomes a police officer, a sub-inspector of Kerala Police in Kadampuzha. He has achieved what his father said he couldn’t, and yet Chandru’s father (Badava Gopi is a great casting choice; his voice becomes a character), even posthumously, has a firm grip on his son’s psyche, constantly chastising and shaming him, especially when he feels bad or makes mistakes. Thanks to Madhumita for making John Doe the story of Chandru proving his father wrong by becoming a good cop.

It’s also about finding out who it is. He knows he’s not the person the voice in his head keeps portraying him to be; if so, who is it? After all, even the title of the film alludes to it. “John Doe” — as the coroner explains — is a term used in American law enforcement to refer to an unidentified male body or patient (“Jane Doe” is for female). By trying to identify and seek justice for this young John Doe who was killed by drowning in a lake in Kadampuzha, Chandru is also identifying who he himself is and seeking justice for the child within him who was slowly being killed.

Arjun Das in still from ‘John Doe’ | Photo credit: Special arrangement

At the same time, we follow a new family arriving in Kurinjimedu, Tamil Nadu: Darshana (Srishti Y), a widow, her eight-year-old son Hriday (Nirav S) and teenage daughter Lakshmi, aka Lucky (Zaara Vineet Chandhokhe). One evening, Hriday goes missing, following which Police Inspector A Rao (Sanchana Natarajan) starts a missing person investigation. By first showing the drowned corpse of a boy who resembles Hriday in Kadampuzha, Madhumita ensures that every subsequent shot of Hriday, a normal kid who wanted a dog in his new spacious house, will disturb you. The rest of the film moves between Kurinjimedu and Kadampuzhou, and these worlds collide as Chandra reveals disturbing details.

First and foremost, if you believe that the only value of a detective story or investigative thriller lies in how cleverly it executes its climactic twist or reveals the identity of the killer, John Doe may make you reconsider. A fan of the genre would have seen the pre-intermission twist coming from afar, and the film hardly tries to hide its killer. While this is mostly convenient, when you see a familiar face in a whore among a group of non-actors, you tend to look closer, which spoils the fun. A more experienced genre creator could have done it differently to drive home the fact that anyone can commit crimes.

Arjun Das in still from ‘John Doe’ | Photo credit: Special arrangement

That predictability aside, John Doe would command your attention and keep you hooked throughout its run. Madhumita excels in the small moments between the dramatic spikes in the narrative. Nuance and sensitive writing is what you can take home. See how a couple accepts the news of their child’s death. Their son went missing five years ago and Madhumita tells you what the psyche of such parents would be like – they don’t scream and wail as you would expect; a mother who has held on to hope struggles much more than a father who has long accepted grief. Similarly, you will see a traumatized child who wants someone from the family to accompany him to the psychologist’s room – because even the doctor is a stranger to him, and after what happened to him, he does not want to go anywhere alone with him. Now also see how sensible the psychologist (Karthik Kumar) behaves in contrast to the hot-blooded cops. We wish more filmmakers had this emotional capacity.

‘John Doe’ (Tamil)

Directed by: Madhumita

Starring: Arjun Das, Sanchana Natarajan, Zaara Vineet Chandhokhe, Srishti Y

Duration: 149 minutes

Plot: Two police officers join forces to investigate the mysterious death of an eight-year-old boy, uncovering disturbing secrets along the way

Among the film’s genre delights is how Chandru and A Rao, the unique buddy-cop duo, also become metaphorical parental figures for the children of this world. Chandru is so attached to the case that he jeopardizes his career; though he looks stoic, Rao also takes it quite personally. Just as you start to wonder if this is a typical good cop vs. bad cop routine — where the good cop is usually more intelligent and the bad cop more daring — a great action scene set in the cabin tells you that the two really complement each other. One goes by ‘instincts’ while the other packs a punch – you can never decide who’s who. It also helps that these two actors look the part; Arjun moves like a policeman who has found his feet, while Sanchana shows immense potential despite the occasional theatrics.

Of course, the movie takes a little leeway on that idea in the second half, which doesn’t work. The film in general could have benefited from more subtlety, such as when it still underlines Lucky’s bratty, hormonal teenage persona (the line about the goth subculture feels stereotypical here, given that the subculture is now far beyond its conventional association with darkness and death).

You are also asked to take some cinematic liberties with a few hard-hitting details — like how you don’t understand how a car plunged into a lake at Kadampuzha at such speed, or how Chandru didn’t notice the culprit. Also, it could have been a much more atmospheric thriller if the film had taken the characters through these hillside towns more often instead of the multiple locations the plot revolves around (cutting between two similar-looking police stations also breaks the immersion at times).

Sanchana Natarajan in still life from ‘John Doe’ | Photo credit: Special arrangement

Now, if this movie still manages to overcome all of these flaws, it’s because of how committed the writing feels to providing an engaging experience for its audience. Which is why when I realized that John Doe might have a sequel, I wasn’t that skeptical (since it’s a trend to end movies with a hint of a sequel to help the potential franchise). It seems Chandra and Rao are just getting started and Madhumita is testing the waters in a genre in which she is not very used to doing films.

In cinema, it’s unfair how filmmakers are often compared to their last film. But I have to admit that having two Madhumita directorial films released in the same month meant that I was still carrying the aftertaste of Love Always before I stepped into John Doe. Maybe also if you watched the JioHotstar series. However, all works of art deserve an objective, discerning audience, and this John Doe deserves their attention.

Contrary to its title, this film does not suffer from an identity crisis. He knows what he wants to be and is working hard to make it happen. Such cinema is worth cheering every day.

John Doe is currently playing in theaters

Published – 13 Nov 2026 20:41 IST