India, June 24 -- The defining image in Malayalam film director Chidambaram's Balan The Boy comes in the first half, when mother and son find a moment of respite after a lot of running around. The two of them lie on the bed; she keeping a loaded gun beside her. It is a declaration. No one is welcome here in their chosen space, and if some outside force tries to break this peace, there will be consequences.

Unfolding like a mystery, this is a subtly layered and wrenching drama about the many layers of identity that protects and pulls us apart in equal measure. You enter the world of Balan thinking it as one thing, and slowly it turns, and unfolds into a completely different thing altogether.

Amma (Farzana) and her boy (Adhisheshan) drop ...