Three stages in George's life, and three girls he encounters in each stage.
Ratings
Curator score: 9.2/10
IMDb: 8.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 84%
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Alphonse Puthren
Production
Anwar Rasheed Entertainments
Cast
Nivin Pauly, Madonna Sebastian, Sai Pallavi, Anupama Parameswaran, Shabareesh Varma, Krishna Shankar, Soubin Shahir, Vinay Forrt, Ananth Nag, Siju Wilson, Anju Kurian, Suraj Sathyan, Shiyas K.A., Maju Mathew, Sibu Thankachan, Eva Prakash, Althaf Salim, Vijai Suresh, George Kora, Renji Panicker
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, funny, and emotionally generous coming-of-age romance that follows one man through three distinct phases of life and love. Its charm comes from the lived-in Kerala setting, memorable music, and a freewheeling style that feels both playful and deeply nostalgic.
Best for
fans of romantic coming-of-age stories
viewers who like music-driven films with strong atmosphere
audiences open to nonlinear, episodic storytelling
people who enjoy bittersweet love stories with humor
Skip if
you want a tightly plotted romance with a conventional structure
you dislike stylized editing or a breezy, digressive tone
you prefer minimal sentimentality
you are not in the mood for a film that leans heavily on nostalgia
Overview
Premam is one of those rare romances that feels bigger than its plot. It moves through three chapters of George’s life with an easy confidence, using each phase to capture a different version of youth, longing, and self-discovery. The result is less a standard love story than a memory of one, shaped by music, small gestures, and the ache of growing up.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the combination of emotional directness and stylistic swagger. The film is funny, romantic, and often very tender, but it also has a restless, improvisational energy that gives it personality. It knows exactly when to linger on a look, a song, or a moment of embarrassment, and that timing is a big part of its appeal.
Bottom line
For many viewers, it plays like a time capsule of a particular era of Malayalam cinema and a very specific youthful mood. Even if some of its charm depends on cultural familiarity, the feelings it captures are universal: first love, missed chances, and the strange way certain people stay with us long after they’re gone.
Top Letterboxd reviews
ami (4.5★) · 633 likes
You had to be in Kerala during the summer of 2015.
ash (5★) · 383 likes
Vimal sir is a good at heart.Vimal sir has lot of money.Vimal sir is a good sprinter, a good jumper.Vimal sir is a good singer.Vimal sir is a good dancer.Vimal sir owns 900 acers of pears estate with a pond in Ooty (no crocodile in it).
P.S : Alphonse, an absolute rebel! broke every rule malayalam cinema had seen untill that point. This movie is a literal time machine to 2015 . The best fdfs show I've been to.
brutalkangaroo (5★) · 319 likes
When Rumi said "Forget safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious.", he was talking about Alphonse Puthren making Premam.
Watch in awe, as he breaks every rule there is to editing and goes against everything you know and have been told about cinema; and make you applaud for it.
ఆshish (5★) · 244 likes
my son's gonna be real mad when i name him alphonse puthren 😂😂😂
Pranav (5★) · 223 likes
When raining, get a chilled beer, some red velvet cake, and then sit in your room cozied up watching Premam.
It hits you in episodes, and when you eventually get to Celine's segment, you are either having melancholic longings for someone you have never even met, or missing someone you love dearly, or just swept away by how Puthren builds George's world.
When Celine tastes George's cake, just see how he looks at her. Or how he smiles seeing Malar.… more