Overview
A chaotic frenzy erupts in a small village when a buffalo escapes, igniting primal instincts and violence.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Breakneck
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- visceral
- absurdist
- sardonic
- late night arthouse viewing
- dark thriller marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's technical brilliance, kinetic filmmaking, dark humor, and incisive examination of innate human violence.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The escaped buffalo triggers a frenzy that repeatedly compares villagers' behavior to predatory, pre-civilized creatures.
The village pursuit becomes a broader examination of dominance, ownership, masculinity, and the limits of human evolution.
The buffalo chase is staged through frenetic tracking, dense group movement, and escalating nighttime pursuit.
The escaped buffalo drives every faction's pursuit while also serving as an allegorical catalyst rather than a conventional prize.
Films like Jallikattu, and why
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
shared feral social satire, escalating collective violence, and formally audacious rural setting
The Exterminating Angel
shared allegorical critique of human brutality, oppressive atmosphere, and intense ensemble panic
The Wild Bunch
shared kinetic crowd dynamics, blackly comic violence, and critique of social order
Dogtooth
shared animal-driven chaos, absurdist escalation, and unsettling examination of group behavior
Movie Details
- Director
- Lijo Jose Pellissery
- Release Date
- 2019-10-04
- Runtime
- 95 min
- Rating
- 6.7 / 10 (94)
Cast
- Antony Varghese
- Chemban Vinod Jose
- Sabumon Abdusamad
- Santhy Balachandran
- Jaffer Idukki
- Vinod Kozhikode
- Tinu Pappachan
- Jayashankar Karimuttam
- Shobha Singh
- Anil K Sivaram
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- aha, ARROW
- Rent
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Jallikattu about?
- An escaped buffalo turns a remote Kerala village into a delirious battleground where human civilization appears terrifyingly thin.
- What is Jallikattu like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Jallikattu as breakneck, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Jallikattu violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Jallikattu as graphic.
- What did critics think of Jallikattu?
- Critics broadly praised the film's technical brilliance, kinetic filmmaking, dark humor, and incisive examination of innate human violence.
- Which films are like Jallikattu?
- Films with a similar feel include The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, The Exterminating Angel, The Wild Bunch, and Dogtooth.
- How long is Jallikattu?
- Jallikattu runs 95 minutes.
- Where can I watch Jallikattu?
- In United States, Jallikattu streams on aha, ARROW.
