Video summary
The video reaction focuses on the 2026 Malayalam film "Balan," specifically analyzing how its narrative structure significantly impacts the viewer's emotional journey. The reviewers praise the first half of the movie as a masterpiece with superb acting, cinematography, and score that creates a deep emotional attachment between the audience and the protagonist searching for his mother. However, they argue that the second half suffers from poor structural choices that dismantle this carefully built momentum. Instead of maintaining a linear progression where the boy's desperate search remains the central focus, the film introduces unrelated plotlines involving a new character in flashbacks and shifts away from the core emotional stakes, effectively taking "the wind out of the sails" for viewers invested in the story.
A primary point of contention is the introduction of a secondary storyline that distracts from the main theme of mother and son reunion. The critics feel that by diverting attention to a boss character who appears without prior setup or linear development, the film fails to establish an emotional connection with him before revealing his betrayal at the end. Because the audience never truly cares for this new figure due to the lack of time spent building their relationship, the moment he turns over the boy feels hollow rather than tragic. The reviewers suggest that keeping the narrative strictly on the boy's journey would have allowed them to explore his growing desperation and maintain a consistent tone of urgency, making the eventual betrayal far more heartbreaking.
The conclusion of the film also receives mixed reactions regarding its resolution and logical gaps in character motivation. While some viewers appreciate the twist revealing that the woman at the bus stop is not actually the boy's mother, others find this ending unsatisfying because it resolves a complex emotional struggle too easily without sufficient payoff or dramatic weight. The reviewers question why the mother did not go directly to her son immediately after regaining her freedom and identity, noting that the long wait and eventual reunion feel unearned compared to the intense buildup of their separation. This disconnect leaves the audience feeling gut-punched by a twist they were emotionally prepared for but ultimately underwhelmed by in its execution.
Ultimately, the consensus is that while every aspect of the film's production value—from acting to visual storytelling—is excellent, the dramatic structure prevents it from achieving greatness throughout its entire runtime. The movie starts as an exceptional piece of cinema with perfect emotional resonance but devolves into a merely good experience once the narrative shifts away from its core themes. The reviewers conclude that if the filmmakers had kept the story linear and focused solely on the boy's relentless search for his mother, maintaining the audience's investment without unnecessary detours or time jumps, it could have been an unforgettable film rather than one that feels like a step down after such a brilliant beginning.
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[music]
>> Every single video I watch on YouTube
is on YouTube is a very good version of
Discovery Wings actually full on
coverage and this and that.
channel and we should stop at least the
script of laughing and we go check that
out. And at the end of the part we're
talking about we need to
>> Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay.
>> Let's finish this movie, huh?
>> Yeah, let's finish her.
>> Finish him.
>> [music]
[music]
[snorts]
>> Good grief.
>> I don't know what to do.
You got to get a man.
Double double.
Oh.
I put in the mayo.
You got to put on the ginger ale and
then get out.
I got to go now.
Go now.
I got to go now.
You got to get a man.
I need TO GET OUT.
I GOT TO GO.
I'M GOING TO GO LAST TIME I GET OUT.
I'm going to go get my medicine.
What are you doing now?
I need to get out of the hospital.
Yeah, we are doing well.
You got to get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go get my medicine.
I got to get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go get out.
Yeah.
I'm going to go get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go get out. I'm going to go
get out. I'm going to go get out. I'm
going to go get out of the hospital. I'm
going to go get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go get out.
I'm going to go.
I'm going to go get out.
I'm going to go out.
I'm going to go get out.
I'm going to go get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go out.
I'm going to go get out of the hospital.
I'm going to go.
I'm going to go. I'm going to
I'm going to go get out of the hospital.
What do you want to do with
And then I'm going
And then I'm going to sit down on the
way.
What do you want to do with
And then I'm going to sit down on the
way. What do you want to do with
And then I'm going to sit down on
I'm going to sit
>> [music]
[music]
>> And then I'm going to sit down on the
way.
And then I'm going to sit down on the
way.
And then I'm going to sit down on the
I'm going to sit down
>> [music]
>> Yeah, so
um
unfortunately, and I don't know why they
they fully went the way they did with
it. They lost the emotional crux of the
movie
in the let's say
little after half
to like
past the 3/4 mark
of
the
Obviously, I know he's he's looking for
his mom and the story you want to tell
is more about the boy and his journey
after the mom after that fact, but you
you also lost like the emotional crux of
it of the the attachment
>> Completely unplugged, isn't it?
Completely unplugged.
>> Not that that like the acting was bad or
the story was bad, but like you have a
10 out of 10 movie in the first half.
>> Yep.
>> And it's it's superb, and
you're emotionally attached, and then
you take kind of the wind out of the
sails
with how obviously I know the story you
wanted to tell is him trying
to find his mom, but
uh I still think you need to
um
give a little more desperation, maybe
not change the tone entirely
um in the second half to kind of lose
that emotional investment that that we
we've made as an audience.
>> Absolutely.
>> Yeah, it was the first half I was
thinking to myself, "Ah,
I'm going to give the I'm finally going
to be having a I'm going to have a gold
for the first time in a while."
>> Mhm.
>> And then uh just
for the storytelling
I don't know why they chose rather than
keep the story linear.
>> Mhm.
>> It fell off when we went to a boss.
>> Mhm.
>> I like that story, but the fact that we
just introduced this guy
out of nowhere
>> Mhm.
>> in flashback
>> Mhm.
>> and
had we changed that, had we kept it
linear
had we followed him
and saw he's still looking for his mom
and ends up finding a boss and then we
spend that time with the boss and get to
know him and become emotionally
connected to him
you would have had an emotional
connection to the way he feels betrayed
when the kid turns him in.
>> Yeah.
>> I didn't care that he turned him in cuz
I didn't know this guy. I was like, "Oh,
that sucks." But there was nothing
there.
>> Mhm.
>> So it you as you said it right, it took
all of the wind out of the sails
storytelling-wise
and then
mom got that girl to be there.
Why didn't she go straight to him at his
bus stop?
And even if she didn't find him that
night where the hell did she go?
>> [snorts]
>> She must have known he was picked up by
the cops.
She's free.
Someone else took the fall for her.
She's still living the life she's been
living. Hm.
Why did he have to wait there that long?
I was I'm I'm watching her leave the
house after the woman is there to get to
take the fall for her. I'm like,
she should be going straight to where
her kid gets dropped off and no one's
going to be looking for her because
nobody even knows she's there. She's got
her identity. She's a free woman walking
around. Nobody knows she's a wanted
woman right now.
>> Hm. Yeah.
>> So, why did she leave him at the bus
stop so long?
>> Hm.
>> And then
then out of nowhere this long-time
search he's been trying to find his mom
for so long,
she just neatly arrives at the end of
the film?
And
>> think it's assumed that she goes there
every day to
>> At that exact time? I mean,
>> Yeah.
Well, he might have been waiting there a
while. Like, it looked like he was
waiting there.
>> It just it it wrapped it up way too
easily for what was previously a very
difficult complex story of I you know,
can't find my mom. She just happens to
walk up. And I also didn't see any kind
of a payoff.
It was weird to me to have what had been
such a believable relationship at the
beginning of the film
>> Hm.
>> to them not just
fall into each other's arms and sob
versus stand and make some dramatic
statements. It didn't work for me, the
ending.
>> No, I didn't mind I I understand like
the the the holes you have with the the
explanation at the end. I do and I get
that. Um I didn't mind the end
Unfortunately, it was just once again,
once you kind of take the emotional out
of the sales, it doesn't hit as hard as
it would if you kept that emotion going
of course. But, I didn't mind like the
explanation and like I was cuz I knew
that girl was going to come back in
terms of like the the one that her her
son died and I didn't know it was going
to come back in that way. I didn't mind
that.
>> No, I liked that twist.
>> And I I kind of figured that's how it
was going to end with him going back to
the bus stop and and her finding him and
I'm assuming he's she goes there every
day to check to blah blah blah blah
blah. I understand those critiques that
you do have. Yeah, that is
somebody if if we if we missed something
of why [snorts] she couldn't go right to
the bus stop.
>> Mhm.
>> Um
>> And granted, granted, hold on.
Uh
Yeah, I one it's it is far away from so
maybe she had to flee somewhere else.
And then
>> What did she have to Why did she have to
flee?
>> Uh
to so people wouldn't know uh
>> She just gave that woman her identity.
>> Mhm.
>> So what does she have to flee from?
>> Um [snorts]
Yeah.
>> And he was there.
>> Yeah.
>> Till like nightfall.
>> people started showing up there.
>> Yeah.
>> Um maybe she saw people there and
Maybe she Maybe she went in. I don't I'm
just I'm trying to figure out. But I I
understand I definitely uh see that uh
that hole there of why she didn't just
go straight there. Yeah. Granted, it is
a far bus stop. They do say it's a far
bus stop, but she obviously could have
made that in time. Um for sure.
Um so if we miss something in that,
please let me know but cuz I do I do see
the frustration with that.
>> if let's say she had to walk and she
couldn't get there in time and he was
gone.
>> Yeah.
>> If he's gone, the first place that you
would go
is to the police to go I'm looking for
my kid.
>> Then there would be more questions
though.
>> There would be, but I would at least go
look around. You know, she could hide in
the trees and look at the most local
police station.
>> Mhm.
>> And it's just like she's just
gone.
Cuz he didn't leave immediately.
>> No.
>> Granted, I I I do think there's more to
her and her back story
>> of of why they have all these stories
and why sh- they can't settle down
anywhere.
>> Yeah.
>> Like she might This might not be her
first rodeo.
>> Right.
>> I mean the the girl she killed it was
like this is your kind of your MO.
>> Right.
>> Of
>> [laughter]
>> So, um maybe that's why she she's like I
can't go to the police station cuz
they're going to ask questions. Um but
yeah, I do there's definitely some some
frustration with the the the holes there
for sure. Uh like is it Is it our kid,
which I do like that we don't
technically you can
>> Yeah, might not be her kid.
>> might assume though.
>> [snorts]
>> I like to assume that she does seem to
care about this kid enough that it would
be her kid.
>> Mhm.
>> Um
and that [snorts] kind of stuff. So,
that that I don't have My biggest issue
is either make the film a lot shorter
and don't have it as complex after that.
>> Don't do the don't make it a time jump
back. Just keep it linear.
>> Linear and then we ended it like
[clears throat] an hour and a half.
>> Yeah.
>> Uh could have been
>> Yeah, could have That that whole you
either take that Abbas section
>> Mhm.
>> and make it linear or just don't use it.
>> Yeah.
>> We didn't need it.
>> Yeah.
>> It didn't add anything.
>> Yeah, obviously like I said, they wanted
to emphasize his life without her and
and the kind of kind of that, but also
kind of took the the the air out of the
sails.
>> It really did cuz the emotional heart of
this movie
is him and his mom.
>> Yeah.
>> And then they just take mom out of it.
>> Yeah.
>> And take him from being a little boy to
a new age kid, which
that requires a new adjustment. And the
kid was very very good.
>> No, no, they were all very The kid The
teen was good.
>> Yeah.
>> Like everybody in this movie acting wise
was very good. There's no like in terms
of that, that's not the issue at all.
>> No.
>> Uh it's not like it went from like uh a
10 out of 10 to a movie. It just
became different.
>> It did.
>> that takes the air out of the sails
>> Yeah.
>> of a one
10 out of 10 movie in the beginning.
That was such a It was the best movie of
the year in the beginning.
>> Yeah, went from gold to silver for me
with with a blue diamond cuz there's a
lot of elevated aspects, the acting, the
score, cinematography.
>> Right. That also makes it
>> Especially the front half of the film.
>> That also makes it more disappointing
though
>> Exactly.
>> like the like it was so good.
>> so brilliant the first half that even a
like slight drop and I I think it was a
little more than a slight drop in terms
of the emotionality
>> Yeah.
>> of it uh in the the connection
uh is is just it makes it even more
disappointing cuz you're like this is
was a perfect
it was so amazing.
>> I was yeah I was [laughter] I was the
first hour of the movie I'm like holy
crap this is I'm I was
ready to get out my dummy list and go
okay here's all the things and this is
man this is the best film I've seen this
year and it was in the first half.
>> Granted I I still think like she's going
in terms of dummy knobs she's she'll be
there for after she was phenomenal.
>> She was fantastic.
>> Did he he the kid was good the teen was
good
cinematography score there was a really
good moments I loved the score in this.
>> Yep.
>> Um yeah I honestly it's just
I you could even keep the I kind of
I kind of had a a nice attachment right
after the shot and then it goes to that
bad cop and and Cecilia or whatever her
name is
and I thought that was a nice moment
between those cops and I was like okay
we're we're going to figure out this
and then it's just it too much of a way
from the main point of the movie in my
opinion. I know a lot of people don't
share that so you can share your
thoughts of why you didn't feel the
emotional drop off why if you did you
maybe not you just let the film
do that it's just um
sometimes it's just
that's that's a lot to overcome
>> Yeah.
>> when my emotional investment is so so
big and then you completely shift me
into
something different maybe even if you
like had I
I would even be fine if like you know he
was with a boss and but like the
constant
emotional need of this kid to get back
to his mom
um I needed to feel more at least
the pain of him uh obviously I know he's
a kid and so kids are gullible and so
they're going to listen to the adult
that they at least trust a little bit
>> But you could do that by
keeping it linear and seeing him meet a
boss and be with a boss and just in a
constant you know we started off the
movie with him writing on the walls and
doing drawings. If he's continuing to
draw things, just something that's
bringing us back to his constant
ruminating of where's mom, where's mom.
Maybe having a nightmare in the middle
of the night, and the boss has to come
hold him because he he where's mom. And
that you discover that a boss, even
though he's a criminal, he's actually a
good guy, and he wants to help him find
his mom.
And that makes it all the more
heartbreaking when the kid turns him
over to the cops. He's like, "Why
couldn't you wait? I had a plan." He
says, "Well, why didn't you tell me the
plan?" That lost all of its efficacy.
>> Yeah, as opposed to like, he just seemed
like
he didn't seem like like
a terrible, like he wasn't going to hurt
this kid really, but he just seemed like
a kind of a a junkie guy. Like, and so
like the attachment, we didn't have that
as an audience to this guy. And so like
it just seemed like oh, in the end he
was actually trying to help, even though
he didn't seem like he really wanted to
help that much at all throughout the
entire movie.
Uh for the second half of the movie, and
so I didn't really have a like a
oh, no, he turned him in. I kind of
figured he was going to turn him in.
>> Which also, because of that emotional
detachment we have and the drop down, it
took all of the emotional fangs out of
the moment when we see it's not his mom.
We should be
with bated breath after this voyage,
almost 2 and 1/2 hours, he's finally
going to it's going to be mom and son
again, mom and son again. What's going
to happen? And to see it's not his mom,
and he still can't find his mom, you
should be heartbroken. And just gut
punched that it's not his mom. And it it
was just like, oh, that's a cool twist.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, it's the same.
>> Um also that that that that the grandma,
I think might have been a dummy not a
supporter, cuz she was phenomenal.
>> She was fantastic.
>> Loved her character. It was very sad
when she died, cuz I was attached to her
as well. I loved to loved her character.
Like everything in the first half was
perfect. It was a perfect movie. This
falls under the category of a big word,
it's dramaturgical. It's dramaturgical
structuring of the way that the outflow
of the story is being told, and that's
the second half. It's not the
performances, it's not the
cinematography, it's really it's the
importance of structure and how once
you've built momentum, you've got to
maintain
that through line of emotional
connectivity, and that structure change
is just a big sad disconnect, cuz it's
otherwise an excellent excellent and
could have been exceptional for me. I
just found it to be
more excellent at the end of the day
than exceptional.
>> Um so, yeah, you guys
let us know what you thought about the
movie, if you liked it, if you didn't
like it, what your thoughts on it are.
Where does it land for you in terms of
your favorites of the year?
>> Yeah.
>> Uh if you're also on YouTube, you're
also very good at covers because got
driving like see full on covers and this
and that. Malayalam films, you got a
Patreon on tournament chips off the link
is going to be below, you can go and go
check that out. Let us know what our
next Malayalam film should be down
below, and
anything else we need to know? DOWN
BELOW.
>> [screaming]
>> ALL RIGHT, WATCH IT.