12th Man (2022)

12th Man
DirectorJeethu Joseph
Genremystery film, thriller film
Runtime163 min
CountryIndia

Plot

11 friends - Fida, Mathew and his wife Shiny, Sam and his wife Merin, Zachariah and his wife Annie, Siddharth and his fiancée Aarathy, and Jithesh and his wife Dr. Nayana - gather at a resort for the bachelor party of their friend, Siddharth. Out of the group, Annie, Fida, Jithesh, Mathew, Sam, Siddharth, and Zachariah are college classmates. They are interrupted by a seemingly annoying person, Chandrashekhar, who demands alcohol from them; they pacify and send him away.

During dinner, an argument happens between the friends when Fida claims that even though they are friends, there are always certain secrets kept within them that they would not even share with their spouses. To settle the argument, they decide to play a game wherein each one of them is to keep their phone on the table and read out loud the text messages they receive as well as place their phones on speaker, should they receive a call.

This leads to many embarrassing secrets being revealed. The main conflict happens when one of his friends calls Siddharth and asks him about the name of the abortion pills used by him when he made one of the group members pregnant. This leads to a brawl among them as he is unmarried, leading everyone to believe that he must have had an affair with one of their wives. As the night progresses, Shiny is revealed to have fallen to her death on the nearby view point.

An investigation is immediately opened, and the group discovers that Chandrashekhar is actually a DySP, who is on leave. He begins to question each one of them regarding their alibis and possible motives; he also plays the same game from earlier that night. It is revealed that Siddharth was not the one having an affair, but was merely covering up for Jithesh. When questioned, Jithesh claims that he was having an affair with Shiny, implying that she must have committed suicide to avoid the fear of being humiliated.

The fact that Shiny had bipolar disorder also contributes to his claims as Shiny's doctor confirms that bipolar people do have suicidal tendencies depending on their state, but to everyone's shock, Jithesh's claims are proven wrong as Dr. Nayana claims that it is impossible that Shiny fits into the abortion story as she cannot have children. Chandrashekar finds out that was transferred to Shiny's account prior to her death, which is revealed from the calls from one of Mathew's moneylenders.

It is revealed that only ₹5 Lakhs had been transferred from Jithesh's account, meaning that the remaining ₹5 Lakhs must have been transferred from the account of the woman involved in the affair. Upon further investigation, it is revealed that Merin is the one who transferred the money and was with whom Jithesh was having an affair. Merin sought Shiny's help as Aarathy told Siddharth to bring both Jithesh and his lover to her in order to prove his innocence.

Shiny thus requested ₹5 Lakhs from both Jithesh and Merin. She then asks Annie to pretend to be Jithesh's lover in front of Aarathy instead of Merin, blackmailing her with a video Shiny recorded of Annie having an extramarital/illicit affair with a colleague, but Annie refuses. After extensive questioning, Chandrashekar deduces that since Sam and Merin have a joint account, Sam is confused as to why a large amount of money was transferred to Shiny. While confronting Shiny, in a fit of rage, Shiny reveals that it was to hide his wife's affair. An enraged Sam unintentionally pushes her to the edge, making her fall to her death. Chandrashekhar leaves the friends in the room as dawn breaks, leaving their fates unknown.

Cast

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