Touted as a survival thriller, director Mathukutty Xavier's Helen does justice to its genre. The movie has a well-placed beginning and it goes through a path that is less travelled by Malayalam Cinema. The movie has a veiled reference to the 1990-movie 'Malooty' directed by Bharathan, in which efforts are shown to rescue Mallooty, a child who falls inside a bore well. Helen is produced by actor-director Vineeth Sreenivasan

The first half of Helen is very interesting, as the scenes shown in the opening credits narrates the tale of an ant, which is actually the story of the movie. The ant is walking through the walls, table and finally, it ends up getting inside the freezer of the refrigerator. It was a novel way of representing the plot of the movie in two-three minutes.

The life of Helen (Anna Ben) and her father Paul (Lal) is leisurely picturized by cinematographer Anand Chandran through his lens. A warm relationship between Helen and her father is familiarized to the audience in the initial moments A daughter who is caring, her boyfriend and their relationship which has differences - all those are normal in the lives of people. A particular incident in the life of Helen and her father changes the normalcy of the plot.

Moving forward to the first half, we understand what is happening and increases your anticipation about what happens next. The movie portrays the challenges faced by nurses in our country and gives a glimpse of it, with the characterization of Helen. She is a nurse who works part-time in a restaurant chain at a mall, with dreams of migrating to Canada for better pay and career.

If it was the ant in the first half, a rat is the one that gets attraction in the second half. Helen gets locked inside the giant freezer of her restaurant and how she gets rescued forms the crux of the story. The director has taken all efforts to make sure that his debut movie should appeal to the audience.

The scenes inside the freezer where the temperature goes to -17 degrees celsius are executed with extreme brilliance. Whatever Helen does inside the freezer to get out is convincing, especially the one in which she tries to dismantle the ceiling fan.

 Shaan Rahman's background score gelled well with the mood of the scenes that gave anxiety to Helen (and audience as they were involved). The sounds used in the movie during the efforts of Helen inside the freezer was disturbing, but it gave the mood of the situation.

The cast of the movie also needs appreciation. Paul and Helen's characters were safe in the hands of Anna and Lal. The negative character of Aju Varghese as a police officer was a revelation. It was a refreshing change from his comedic roles. Newcomer Noble Babu Thomas (who had also written the film along with  Alfred Kurian Joseph and Mathukutty Xavier) did a good job as Azhar, and fared well with his performance. Overall,  Helen is a must-watch for its experiment and script which gives a genuine plot set for a women-centric movie that gets connected with the audience emotionally.