Mourning on the Margins

<p class="ql-align-justify">Cinema plays a pivotal role in shaping and resonating societal attitudes. Malayalam films have witnessed a significant evolution in their portrayal of same-sex relationships. Historically marginalized and framed as <em>deviant</em>, these relationships now find more nuanced representation in contemporary narratives. This article traces this shift from <em>curing</em> to <em>queering</em>, exploring how queer identity is articulated not solely through visibility but through grievability, invoking Judith Butler’s notion of certain lives deemed <em>ungrievable</em> by heteronormative structures. Despite growing queer visibility, the intersections of grief, precarity, and representation remain underexplored in regional Indian film scholarship. This study addresses this gap through a qualitative, comparative analysis of <em>My Life Partner</em>, <em>Moothon</em>, and <em>Kaathal: The Core</em>, assessing how their portrayals reflect evolving perceptions of same-sex relationships in Kerala. The 2018 Supreme Court judgment decriminalizing homosexuality in India has demonstrably influenced queer aesthetics and representational politics in Malayalam cinema. Extending Butler’s concept, these films illustrate how art confers value by rendering queer lives grievable. Grief functions as a potent device—challenging dominant discourse, resisting erasure, and reimagining kinship, identity, and resistance. By foregrounding grief and precarity as critical motifs, this study advances queer film criticism in regional contexts and contributes to broader transnational conversations on LGBTQIA+ representation.</p>