Forensic 2020

A disturbing pattern of child-killer murders unfolds in Thiruvananthapuram, drawing attention to a hidden psychology thatavoids easy explanations. In a chilling prologue, a young boy is shown vandalizing the remnants of slaughtered animals, an act that his father harshly disciplines, setting the stage for a fractured family history that will surface years later. As the boy grows, the story turns toward a calculated killer who moves with unsettling ease through spaces designed for children, all while leaving investigators with few motives and more questions. The investigation lands in the hands of Rithika Xavier [Mamta Mohandas], an ACP who relentlessly pursues a serial pattern even when the trail grows murky. Her case grows more complex when two abducted girls disappear in Thiruvananthapuram, and a sense of dread lingers over every alley and schoolyard.

To piece the puzzle together, she enlists a forensic team led by the minimally cooperative, yet keenly perceptive, Samuel John Kattookkaran [Tovino Thomas]. Samuel, the younger brother of Rithika’s estranged husband Xavier [Saiju Kurup], brings a sharper eye to the evidence: a killer who can slip through a 4-foot tunnel but can’t easily dispose of a body beyond a 5-foot wall, and someone who can blend seamlessly into a crowd of children. This professional tension—between Rithika’s personal history with Xavier and her reliance on Samuel’s expertise—creates a tense dynamic as the investigation widens. The case becomes personal for Rithika when an eyewitness places a boy at the scene of a dead body dump, forcing her to consider a troubling possibility: the killer might be a child masquerading as a killer and moving through the city with calculated anonymity.

Behind the scenes, the narrative threads expand through medical expertise that probes the killer’s mindset. Dr. Jayakumar Menon [Prathap Pothan], a clinical therapist, has previously treated a boy named Reuben Elias, whose troubling behaviors align with the emerging profile. Another key figure, Dr. Alphonse Kurian [Giju John], a clinical psychologist who has counselled the children at risk, becomes central to the story’s most shocking revelation. As the body count rises near the Burma Colony outskirts, Abdul Wahab [Renji Panicker], a retired police officer, volunteers to run DNA analyses that resurrect a decade-old case tied to Rithika’s early career. The investigation expands beyond a single suspect, drawing in a web of past traumas, professional reputations, and the fragile boundaries between child psychology and murderous intent.

The plot thickens when three girls from the Burma Colony are murdered in rapid succession, and the body of another victim is found on a school bus. The police initially frame the bus driver Ubaid Ahmed [Dhanesh Anand], but his innocence is proven only to reveal a more intricate conspiracy at work. A second victim is abducted while the investigation teeters on a knife’s edge, and Samuel’s theory of a second personality behind the child killer gains traction. With the help of Shikha Damodar [Reba Monica John], an eyewitness and ally within the team, the detectives connect the dots to a DNA match from the Burma Colony case, deepening the sense that a mastermind is orchestrating the killings from behind a child’s façade.

The investigation shifts as Samuel and Rithika pursue every lead—checking the hospital’s security footage, canvassing medical staff, and tracing the movements of hundreds of people who could have been in the right place at the wrong time. When Rithika finally corners Reuben, he delivers a disturbing, almost apocalyptic denial, which is interpreted as a confession by the team. Samuel sees through the deception, suspecting that Reuben is acting under the influence of a higher power, possibly the mastermind, and the tension escalates as Reuben’s own actions become a crucial piece of the puzzle.

As the net tightens, Ubaid’s case takes a dramatic turn. A Violet Honda Civic seen near the station becomes a critical clue, and Samuel’s relentless pursuit leads to a confrontation in a remote forested area. An abducted victim’s mother and the rest of the team race against time to rescue Navya, Navya’s whereabouts hounding the investigators as they chase the killer’s trail. In a pivotal moment, a revelation surfaces: Alphonse’s patient-turned-predator past—Naveen’s fatherhood and a blood cancer diagnosis—drives him to manipulate events as revenge, using two DNA sets to evade detection after undergoing a bone marrow transplant. This dual-DNA twist allows the mastermind to appear untouchable, tying the ongoing murders to Alphonse in a way no one anticipated.

A flashback sequence unpacks the truth: Samuel’s earlier conversations with Shikha hint that Alphonse’s two DNA profiles could be the key to the mystery. When Rithika and Xavier finally locate Navya within a narrow radius of Ubaid’s last known location, the stakes rise higher as Alphonse’s plan collapses around him. In a dramatic confrontation, Alphonse lunges at Samuel in a car, and a fateful decision leads to Alphonse’s death when the car’s seat belt is forcibly disengaged—an act that Samuel later reveals in the inquiry. The killer’s web begins to unravel as Navya’s safety becomes the primary objective, with Rithika taking a two-month leave to focus on her family while still tracking a new case and the forensic team she has come to rely on.

In the end, it becomes clear that the threads of vengeance, psychological trauma, and maternal fear have driven a complex, morally ambiguous plot. Alphonse’s death closes one chapter, but the implication lingers: Samuel’s moral lines have blurred as he acknowledges that he has crossed boundaries in pursuit of justice. The story closes on a note of fragile reconciliation—Rithika attempts to balance a renewed family life with the ongoing pressure of unresolved cases—while the brutal reality remains: a mastermind can hide in plain sight, using the broken connections between professionals and families to mask a carefully constructed plan. The narrative leaves viewers with a somber reflection on the lengths to which fear, guilt, and revenge can drive people, and the delicate line between protector and perpetrator that a few characters are forced to negotiate.