Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (English: Like An Afternoon Dream)[2] is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-Tamil bilingual drama film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by S.

[6] A group of Malayali tourists are returning to Kerala after visiting the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu.

He takes a stroll around the place, enters a house and starts acting like a member of the family, behaving like a Tamilian and speaking in Tamil.

James' real family and friends plot to sedate him in order to get him back to Kerala, and get him help for his presumed mental disorder.

"[15] Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave the film 3 out of 5 and wrote "Apart from the music and sound design, the highlight of Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam is its immersive central performance...the thespian does not give either James or Sundaram any quirks, yet masterfully conveys their divergent personalities leaving us in no doubt as to who is who and when.

This team-up with Lijo confirms that Mammootty is steering his career into a whole new experimental phase, embracing not just the sort of middle-of-the-road, slice-of-life ventures that have endeared Malayalam cinema to a pan-India audience, but also entering an unapologetically philosophical arena.

"[16] Prem Udayabhanu of Onmanorama reviewed the film as post-siesta drama a lofty cinematic experience and wrote "The orchestrated chaos we see in Jallikattu or Churuli is amiss.

But through the interplay of hallucination and trance Lijo’s scriptwriter S Harish infuses into Mammotty’s character, the master craftsman pulls the actor and the audience to a lofty plain of cinematic excellence.

"[17] Analysing the movie, Sajesh Mohan of Onmanorama wrote In ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’, Lijo Jose Pellissery must have asked cinematographer Theni Eswar to observe the actors like a master of mindfulness.