I’m Game Review – Stylish Surface, Timeworn Ghost Revenge

I’m Game, directed by Nahas Hidhayath and produced by Dulquer Salmaan and Jom Varghese under Wayfarer Films, is a Malayalam fantasy action thriller that went wide on 3 September 2026. Dulquer Salmaan plays Dan John, a gambler whose life flips after a bizarre turn; the ensemble includes Antony Varghese (Pepe), Mysskin, Kayadu Lohar, Samyuktha Viswanathan, Kathir and Vinay Forrt. Music is by Jakes Bejoy. The film looks expensive and moves with swagger. Underneath the sheen sits a routine, timeworn ghost-revenge story — an idea with a little horror-fantasy twist that the screenplay never really expands.

Synopsis

Dan John lives by risk. Debt and a violent chain of events push him into a situation that changes his body and, with it, the rules of his life. What follows is part gambling thriller, part supernatural revenge: a presence tied to the past begins to steer the present. The first half plays like an upgraded take on the Tamil film Peechankai — the lost-hand / new-hand hook — with a slight shift toward horror and fantasy. The second half opens the backstory and lets another man’s unfinished fight take over the film.

Performances

Dulquer Salmaan is the first-half engine. He sells the swagger, the panic and the odd physical comedy of a man no longer fully in charge of himself. That stretch is where the film feels most alive.

Antony Varghese gets more mileage after interval, especially in the flashback. He is sincere and intense, but the writing around him is familiar revenge grammar, so the performance works harder than the scenes do.

Mysskin is the most enjoyable presence as the baddie. He plays the gambling kingpin with theatrical bite and seems to be having a good time; the film is livelier whenever he is on screen. Kathir gets a decent, functional role and does not waste it. Kayadu Lohar and the rest of the supporting cast are serviceable inside thinly drawn parts.

Analysis

The idea is better than the film that follows it. A stylish gambler, a body that will not obey, a ghost of vengeance riding shotgun — that hook can carry a first half. Hidhayath dresses it well and gives Dulquer room to perform.

Then predictability sets in. Once the mystery is named, I’m Game becomes a routine ghost-revenge drama: flashback, motive, score-settling. The second half belongs more to Pepe’s track than to Dan’s inner war, and the screenplay walks a path you can see from the interval. Style keeps arriving; substance does not. For all the pan-Indian polish, the film settles for an average fare rather than the wilder genre piece its opening promises.

Technical Aspects

This is where I’m Game most clearly spends its money. The frames are glossy, the action is mounted at a commercial scale, and Jakes Bejoy’s score pushes the set-pieces. Jimshi Khalid’s (and Jomon T. John’s) camera gives the gambling world and the fantasy beats a sleek coat.

Craft, though, cannot hide a screenplay that flattens after a point. The look says event film. The writing says familiar Friday revenge.

Verdict

I’m Game is stylish but thin. The first half has Dulquer in good form and a Peechankai-like hook nudged toward horror and fantasy. Mysskin enjoys himself as the villain, Kathir is fine, and Pepe owns the flashback. The idea deserved a sharper, less obvious second half. What arrives is a timeworn ghost-revenge story in expensive clothes.

An average theatrical watch — watchable in parts, predictable as a whole.