Pluto (2026) Review: ML Thriller's Bold Vision

The film opens with Vicky (Neeraj Madhav), a restless young man in the fictional village of Kadukkara, who dreams of escaping his mundane life of running a small tea shop. His world is a tapestry of familiar characters: the loud-mouthed local strongman Tiger Thampi (Aju Varghese), the sweet-natured Meera (Arsha Baiju) who harbors a quiet crush on him, and a scatterbrained Professor (Dinesh Prabhakar) who claims to be tracking celestial anomalies. When a glowing pod crashes into a paddy field, out steps Pluto (Althaf Salim), a wide-eyed alien with a childlike curiosity and a strange, untranslatable language. Instead of panic, the village reacts with a mixture of superstition, greed, and sheer amusement. Vicky takes Pluto under his wing, trying to hide him from Thampi, who sees the alien as a ticket to fame and money, and from the Professor, who wants to dissect him for science. The plot thickens when Pluto’s "mother" (Kalaranjini) supposedly arrives in a second ship, leading to a chaotic series of disguises, mistaken identities, and a climax that involves a temple festival, a rogue elephant (well, Mallan, played by Vineeth Thattil David, acting like one), and a final decision about whether Pluto should stay or go home.

Chadrashekar’s direction is most assured when he lets the camera simply observe the mayhem. The film’s first hour is its best, spending generous time establishing the village's idiosyncrasies. Neeraj Madhav delivers a grounded performance as the straight man, his frustration palpable yet warm. But the film belongs to Althaf Salim, whose physical comedy is a marvel. He plays Pluto as an innocent who doesn't understand human customs - he tries to eat a banana with its peel, bows to a cow as if it were royalty, and mimics Tiger Thampi’s swagger to devastating comic effect. Salim’s performance is the engine that drives the movie, relying on expressive eyes and loose-limbed gestures rather than dialogue.

Aju Varghese, as always, is reliable comic relief, but his Tiger Thampi character veers dangerously close to self-parody. Still, his chemistry with Salim produces some of the film's biggest laughs, particularly a scene where Thampi tries to teach Pluto how to "roar" like a tiger, only for the alien to mimic him with perfect, awkward precision. Arsha Baiju is underutilized, her romance with Vicky feeling like a checkbox, though she shares a sweet, silent moment with Pluto that hints at a deeper emotional connection the film doesn't fully explore.

Where Pluto stumbles is in its pacing. The middle act drags, with jokes about the Professor’s failed experiment and Thampi’s repeated attempts to capture the alien becoming repetitive. The sci-fi element is largely window dressing; there is no attempt to explain how the ship works or why Pluto is here, which is fine for a comedy, but the film occasionally treats its premise with a level of emotional gravity that it hasn't earned. The final act, involving a misunderstanding where the villagers mistake a traveling circus performer for Pluto's mother, is pure farce, but it shifts the tone from gentle satire to broad slapstick. Dinesh Prabhakar gets a few good lines as the frantic academic, but the script never gives him a proper arc.

The technical aspects are competent. The lighting and color grading capture the lush greens of Kerala, and the visual effects for the spaceship are modest but serviceable, not trying to outdo any big-budget spectacle. The background score, however, is intrusive, often telling you when to laugh instead of letting the comedy breathe. Yet, for all its flaws, Pluto is never boring. It has a heart, a clear affection for its setting, and a star-making turn from Salim that makes the mediocre patches worth sitting through.

Pros

• Althaf Salim's phenomenal physical comedy carries the film.
• Strong chemistry between the lead actors, particularly Salim and Neeraj Madhav.
• Excellent, vivid depiction of a Kerala village and its quirky inhabitants.
• A genuinely funny first hour that is tight and well-paced.
• A feel-good, family-friendly tone that avoids vulgarity.

Cons

• The middle act drags significantly with repetitive jokes.
• Arsha Baiju's character is underwritten and sidelined.
• The sci-fi plot logic is flimsy, even for a comedy.
• An intrusive background score undercuts some comedic moments.
• The predictable third act leans too heavily on broad farce.

Pluto doesn't aim for the stars, but it lands comfortably on a hill of good vibes and laughter. It’s a film that understands its limitations and plays to its strengths - primarily the astonishing comic talent of Althaf Salim. While the narrative loses steam and the emotional beats feel unearned, the journey is buoyant enough to recommend. If you’re looking for a diverting, no-brainer entertainer with a lot of heart and a genuinely memorable alien performance, Pluto is a worthy trip to the theater. Just don't expect any profound commentary on humanity; the film is far too busy having a good time to care. It's a comfortable 7/10 - a fun ride that overstays its welcome by roughly fifteen minutes, but one you'll likely remember fondly for its best gags.