On the surface, Jallikattu is just a movie about an entire village acting bonkers trying to catch a loose bull on the run. But, underneath the simple premise, Lijo Jose Pellissery quite audaciously ventures to create an entire movie as a metaphor for the darker side of humankind.

Boasting of a true ensemble, instead of a single leading actor (unless you count in the bull), Jallikattu's true strengths are its story, cinematography, and background music.

Jallikattu is a stark look at the unfathomable capacity of humans to, at times, devolve into something ugly when gathered in numbers. The movie is a raw look at the worst of human tendencies and, as a result, is quite cynical at times. While an argument can be made that humans are rarely so cruel, the movie tends to skip the in-betweens and jump to the extremes of human atrocities at times (especially, the climax, which was quite harrowing to watch). This is not a light watch, or a movie that one may enjoy rewatching. However, it is definitely worth a watch.

The cinematographer has done a spectacular job throughout out the movie. Though, frankly speaking, I am yet to watch a Malayalam movie having average cinematography.

The background music complements the story very well. Also, given that the movie doesn't have a lot of dialogue, the BGM was always going to be important.

This is the first LJP movie I have seen. And, I can understand why he is so highly talked about as the next big Indian director. As a fan of the movie, I am very much looking forward to watching his other works.