Patriot (2026) is a Malayalam espionage thriller directed by Mahesh Narayanan that brings together Mammootty and Mohanlal, the two towering superstars of Malayalam cinema, in one frame after many years. The film revolves around Dr. Daniel James, a former defence scientist who once helped authorise a powerful military spyware programme, and who now spends his days running an outspoken video channel criticising those in power.

Daniel discovers that the spyware, meant only for national security, is secretly being used to watch, track and blackmail ordinary citizens — and that powerful hands are moving to pass its control into private corporate hands. When he resolves to expose the misuse, the very system he once served turns on him, and the man who guarded the nation’s secrets finds himself branded an enemy spy, hunted by his own country. For a lifelong servant of the state, watching it fail its own people becomes impossible to ignore.

With nowhere else to turn, Daniel reaches out to his old friend Colonel Rahim Naik, a decorated soldier who owes him more than a favour. Together, the two ageing warriors race to gather proof of the surveillance conspiracy before the network silences every voice of dissent, even as a ruthless young tech magnate and his political patrons close in from all sides. Every phone call, every meeting and every doorstep becomes a risk, and Daniel must stay one step ahead of an enemy that can see almost everything.

Backed by Fahadh Faasil, Kunchacko Boban and a strong ensemble, Patriot is a tense, idea-driven thriller about privacy, power and patriotism in the digital age. Sushin Shyam’s brooding score and the film’s sleek, realistic treatment keep the tension simmering across its expansive canvas. Grounded in commanding performances and a chillingly believable premise, it asks an uncomfortable question: when the state can see everything, who watches the watchers?

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