For decades, Malayalam cinema, like its counterparts elsewhere, was dominated by the "superstar" culture. However, a significant cultural shift occurred in the last decade, often termed the "New Generation" wave. Filmmakers like Aashiq Abu, Dileesh Pothan, and writers like Syam Pushkaran began dismantling the toxic masculinity that had pervaded the screen.

Some notable Malayalam films that have made a significant impact on Indian cinema include:

Crucially, Malayalam cinema has been brave enough to critique the very leftist establishment it came from. Films like Virus (2019), based on the Nipah outbreak, held the government’s feet to the fire without demonizing the idea of public healthcare. Meanwhile, the rise of right-wing Hindutva politics in the rest of India is often met with intellectual resistance in Malayalam films, such as Ka Bodyscapes (2016), which explicitly addresses the sexual and religious anxieties of a changing Kerala.