Dreamscapes in the Wilderness: Exploring Surrealism in Churuli through André Breton's Lens

International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 303 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 Dreamscapes in the Wilderness: Exploring Surrealism in Churuli through André Breton's Lens Sona John Guest faculty of the Department of English, St. Mary’s College (Autonomous), Thrissur ABSTRACT Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Churuli (2021) emerges as a compelling exploration of the surreal, blending folklore, chaos, and the subconscious within the confines of an enigmatic forest. This paper examines the film through the lens of André Breton’s Manifestoes of Surrealism, unravelling its surrealistic narrative structure and aesthetic. Breton’s framework, which emphasizes the liberation of thought from rational constraints and the embrace of the subconscious, serves as a theoretical foundation for understanding the dreamlike qualities of Churuli. The paper argues that the film’s disjointed narrative, bizarre character transformations, and cyclical storytelling reflect surrealism’s core tenets. The setting of the forest functions as a liminal space, a metaphorical bridge between reality and the subconscious, where societal norms dissolve, and primal instincts take over. Key surrealistic elements, such as the use of symbols, fragmentation, and a deliberate ambiguity in plot resolution, are analysed to uncover the film’s deeper engagement with themes of morality, chaos, and the human psyche. Furthermore, the interplay of sound, visuals, and dialogue in Churuli is explored as a medium for inducing a hypnotic, almost trance-like experience, mirroring the effect of surrealist art and poetry. This paper concludes that Churuli transcends conventional cinematic norms to function as a surrealist narrative that challenges the viewer’s perception of reality, mirroring Breton’s vision of art as a gateway to the unconscious. Keywords: Surrealism, Andre Breton, Churuli, Subconscious, Liminal Spaces. Introduction The enigmatic terrain of surrealism, with its dreamlike distortions of reality and fluid boundaries between consciousness and the subconscious, finds a compelling manifestation in Lijo Jose Pellissery’s Churuli (2021). As a film that weaves folklore, mysticism, and chaos into its very fabric, Churuli presents itself as a cinematic experiment in defying conventional storytelling. This paper situates the film within the theoretical framework of International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 304 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 André Breton’s Manifestoes of Surrealism, exploring how Pellissery’s vision aligns with Breton’s ideals of liberating thought from rational constraints and embracing the subconscious as a creative force. Through its narrative structure, character transformations, and visual composition, Churuli emerges as an embodiment of surrealistic principles, invoking the sense of dislocation and wonder that defines the movement. Surrealism, as pioneered by Breton, sought to dissolve the rigid dichotomies of reason and imagination, reality, and dream. The movement emerged in the early twentieth century as a radical response to the constraints of logic, embracing automatic writing, dream analysis, and psychoanalytic principles to unlock deeper layers of human consciousness. Breton’s manifesto champions art that transcends the mundane and taps into the uncharted realms of thought, a philosophy that finds resonance in Pellissery’s storytelling. Churuli is not merely a film with surrealistic elements; it is an exploration of how surrealism, as an aesthetic and ideological movement, manifests within contemporary cinema. One of the central tenets of surrealism is the subversion of linear narrative structures, an aspect that Churuli adopts through its cyclical storytelling. The film opens with an animated folktale that serves as a prelude to the mysteries that unfold, setting the stage for a journey into an inexplicable space where logic ceases to function. As the protagonists enter the forest, they find themselves ensnared in a loop of events that defy causality, reinforcing the surrealistic idea of time as an elastic and unstable construct. Here, societal norms and established moral codes dissolve, making way for primal instincts and subconscious desires to take precedence. Surrealism emerged as an artistic and cultural movement in Europe following World War I, with artists striving to give voice to the unconscious mind, often resulting in dreamlike or illogical imagery and concepts. According to its leader, André Breton, the movement sought to merge the realms of dream and reality into a unified "super-reality". Surrealism encompassed various forms of artistic expression, including painting, literature, theatre, filmmaking, and photography. Characterized by surprise, unexpected juxtapositions, and non sequiturs, Surrealist works were not merely artistic creations but manifestations of a broader philosophical movement. Many Surrealist artists and writers prioritized the process of "pure psychic automatism," as described by Breton in the first Surrealist Manifesto, over the final artistic product. Breton also emphasized that Surrealism was fundamentally a revolutionary movement, extending beyond art into a transformative ideology. International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 305 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 Surrealism emerged primarily from the earlier Dada movement, which, before World War I, created anti-art that deliberately rejected reason. However, unlike Dada’s focus on negation, Surrealism emphasized positive expression. The movement arose as a response to what its members perceived as the devastation caused by the "rationalism" that had shaped European culture and politics, ultimately leading to the horrors of World War I. According to André Breton, the movement’s leading figure and author of The Surrealist Manifesto (1924), Surrealism aimed to merge the conscious and unconscious realms so completely that dreams and fantasy would seamlessly intertwine with everyday rationality, forming a unified "absolute reality," or surreality. Drawing extensively from Sigmund Freud’s theories, Breton regarded the unconscious as the source of imagination and defined genius as the ability to access this hidden realm, a quality he believed poets and painters could attain. In the poetry of Breton, Paul Éluard, Pierre Reverdy, and others, Surrealism expressed itself through unexpected word juxtapositions, driven not by logic but by unconscious psychological processes. However, the movement’s most significant contributions were in the realm of painting. Churuli is a 2021 Malayalam film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, starring Chemban Vinod Jose, Vinay Fort, Jaffar Idukki, Joju George, and Soubin Shahir in lead roles. The film is based on the short story titled “Kaligaminarile Kuttavalikal” by Vinoy Thomas. The film begins with the tale of a monk who ventures into a dense forest on a mission to capture Perumadan, a malevolent spirit known for misleading travellers. As he journeys deeper, the creatures of the forest curiously wink at him, as though they recognize him. Along the way, he stumbles upon a curled-up pangolin, mistaking it for a ball, and decides to take it as a gift for his children. However, the pangolin begins speaking, advising him to take an alternate route. Trusting its guidance, the monk follows its suggestion, only to become lost. Eventually, it is revealed that the monk remains trapped in the forest, unaware that the pangolin was, in fact, Perumadan in disguise. In the present day, two police officers embark on a covert mission to capture a fugitive named Mayiladumparambil Joy, who is hiding in the mysterious village of Churuli. They assume false identitiesAnthony and Shajivan. Under the pretence of working for a man named Thankan, they board a jeep heading to Churuli. The driver informs them that Thankan is currently away, suggesting they wait in the village for his return. Initially, their International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 306 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 fellow passengers appear friendly, but upon crossing a wooden bridge, their demeanour shifts abruptly to hostility, unsettling the officers. Upon arrival, Anthony and Shajivan take up residence in a tavern run by a man named Philip, awaiting Thankan’s return. Anthony adapts quickly to the peculiar village lifestyle, indulging in alcohol and game meat, while Shajivan struggles, plagued by dreams of strange lights and mysterious alien-like figures. Frustrated by the lack of progress, Shajivan sets out to locate Thankan's house and encounters an old woman who cryptically tells him that he looks familiar. When he asks about Joy, she reacts violently, chasing him with an axe. Narrowly escaping, he returns to the tavern. One evening, the officers discuss their suspicions, realizing that many villagers are criminals using aliases. The next day, the tavern is prepared for Philip’s daughter's first communion, and during the event, Shajivan encounters the old woman again. She reacts strangely, closing her eyes in an eerie manner upon seeing him. Convinced that Thankan is Joy’s alias, the duo remains on high alert. Later, Anthony accompanies a local hunter on an expedition but fails to return after three days. Searching for him, Shajivan stumbles upon a house that supplies cassava to the tavern. Peering through a window, he is startled by glowing gears and mysterious lights. Shajivan to a slap-boxing match at a village fair. He experiences intense visions with each blow in the match. That night, Anthony wakes to find Shajivan missing, but when questioned, Shajivan dismisses the concern as a dream. Soon after, his opponent in the match last night was discovered dead by the riverbank. During another hunting trip, Shajivan takes the lead, attempting to track a bison. Instead, he encounters two creatures resembling those from his dreams. Startled, he fires a shot, inadvertently hitting the bison. Anthony gives chase but injures his ankle. Struggling, Shajivan carries Anthony back to the village, eventually seeking help from a healer woman who lives with a boy. As she performs a ritual, Anthony hallucinates spirals and visions of the villagers. By morning, he is miraculously healed. However, tensions rise when the woman accuses Shajivan of abusing the boy. Anthony, fearing legal consequences, pacifies her with money, though Shajivan vehemently denies the accusation. Meanwhile, Thankan returns and, upon learning of the officers' presence, grows enraged, as he had never requested their service. The villagers capture the duo and decide to execute them. In a desperate attempt to assert control, Shajivan fires a warning shot, capturing International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 307 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 Thankan. Under interrogation, Thankan insists that he is not Joy but reveals Joy’s location. Leading them to his home, they find Joy paralyzed, with his family pleading for mercy. However, the villagers’ demeanour shifts as they begin taunting the officers. A struggle ensues, and Shajivan fires at the crowd, injuring Philip and another villagerboth of whom laugh off their wounds. Joy expresses a sudden willingness to surrender, and the officers secure him and drive away. As they leave, Joy recounts the tale of the monk and Perumadan, replacing the monk with two policemen and himself as the spirit. The officers soon realize that the wooden bridge they originally crossed has vanished. Lost, they follow Joy’s guidance onto a new road, which spirals deeper into the forest. Joy elaborates that everything they have experienced is part of a never-ending cycle. Suddenly, he miraculously recovers from his paralysis and frees himself. Anthony halts the jeep, mesmerized by floating orbs of light that merge into a pulsating moon. As he turns to Shajivan, he notices a strange calmness in his expression. Shajivan closes his eyes and inexplicably swaps places with Joy. Overcome by an eerie euphoria, the trio embraces as the moon expands, drawing them in. The jeep levitates, carrying them towards the glowing celestial body until they merge with it, vanishing into the surreal unknown. Theoretical Framework This paper employs Andre Breton’s work Manifestoes of Surrealism as the theoretical framework for analysing Churuli, especially focusing on the last chapter of the work titled “On Surrealism in Its Living Works.” It is widely recognized today that Surrealism, as an organized movement, originated from a profound transformation of language. It bears repeating that, for its pioneers, the early Surrealist experiments with free association and automatic writing were never intended to adhere to any aesthetic standard. The true objective of the movement was nothing less than the rediscovery of a language whose elements would no longer drift aimlessly like debris on the surface of a stagnant sea. Achieving this required liberating words from their increasingly narrow, utilitarian functions, thereby restoring their full expressive power. Surrealism’s "pure psychic automatism" taps into a deeper, subconscious source, one that must remain undirected to sustain its flow. Surrealism’s key revelation was that this flow is continuous. Experiments demonstrated that automatic writing produced few neologisms and did not lead to syntactic International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 308 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 breakdown or vocabulary disintegration. Breton defines Surrealism as a procedure which will lead· to the clarification of symbols that were once mysterious. Surrealism has never been tempted to hide from itself the element of glittering fascination. Its approach to nature is deeply influenced by its original understanding of the poetic "image." It is well known that Surrealism regarded the image as a means of producing vivid, spontaneous connections between elements of reality that would ordinarily seem unrelated. These connections arise not through concentrated effort but rather in states of complete mental relaxation, where reason momentarily suspends its critical faculties to allow unexpected associations to emerge. Once this creative process is recognized and its limitless potential understood, the mind gains a clearer, albeit fragmented, perception of both the world and itself. It comes to realize, at least intuitively, that "everything above is like everything below" and "everything inside is like everything outside." In this light, the world appears as a cryptogram—one that remains indecipherable only until one learns the mental agility required to navigate between different elements freely. This theoretical framework of Surrealism, put forward by Andre Breton, is employed in this paper to analyse the film Churuli. Film Analysis The film begins with an animated tale of a monk who set out into a dense forest to capture Perumadan, a malevolent spirit known for misleading travellers. Along the way, he stumbles upon a curled-up pangolin, mistakes it for a ball, and takes it with him for his children to play. The pangolin begins to speak, asking him to take different routes. The monk follows its advice and becomes lost in the forest. The legend tells that the monk continues to wander aimlessly in the forest. The film narrative shifts to the present day, where two police officers, who have taken fake namesAnthony (Chemban Vinod) and Shajivan (Vinay Fort)- are travelling to the village of Churuli to catch a criminal named Mayiladumparambil Joy. The adoption of these fake names shows the blurring of boundaries between truth and falsehood. A long shot of the road through which the bus travels is revealed to be that of a spiral (churuli), indicating how the two protagonists are to be trapped in the spiral of the village Churuli. Once they reach the village, both have food from a nearby thattukada, where one of the customers read a newspaper article that talks about the abduction of two Americans by aliens, and there is no International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 309 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 answer to where they had been taken. This foreshadows Anthony and Shajivan’s fate. They introduce themselves as workers who have come to work for a man named Thankan. They reach the jeep, which would take them to Churuli. On seeing the vehicle, Anthony comments that it seems like a jeep that would take people to hell. They learn that Thankan is not in the village and decide to wait for a few days in the village. The fellow travellers in the jeep, who were poor, jovial men, suddenly changed their behaviour once the jeep crossed the wooden bridge to Churuli. They start using obscene language and become hostile to Anthony and Shajivan, surprising the two. The jeep reaches the village, and Anthony and Shajivan take shelter in a tavern owned by a man named Philip. The darkness and silence surrounding the tavern situated in the middle of the forest, along with the perfect employment of background score and distorted visions, make the film a perfect, surrealistic piece of art. Shajivan has a vision of two alien-like men and a ball of fire passing through the darkness of the forest on the first night itself. He feels like leaving the place as soon as possible, as he has started to feel that both have been there for quite a few days. Philip and Shajivan take a walk together when Shajivan notices that Philip answers the call of a villager who calls him by the name Skariah. When Shajivan questions this, there is no reply given, and Philip changes the topic. Shajivan asks Philips’s wife what her husband’s original name is, to which she gives a strange look at him. Anthony and Shajivan realize that everyone in the village is living with their fake names, and it would be extremely difficult for them to find Mayiladumparambil Joy. Shajivan goes to Thankan’s house to inquire about his return. On his way, he stops to ask the way to an old woman who says that she has seen him before and rushes behind him with an axe, and suddenly disappears. Shajivan encounters this old woman again at Philip’s daughter’s holy communion function, where she mysteriously winks at him. Slowly, Anthony and Shajivan too express changes in their behaviour and use of language, becoming like the villagers of Churuli. There is a scene Philip calls Shajivan by the name George, and the latter answers it. This shows how real identities and personalities are erased when one enters Churuli, and they are not their old selves anymore. Anthony and Shajivan go to a fair where Shajivan takes part in a slap-boxing challenge. Shajivan sees a series of distorted visions and hears muffled noises after each slap he gets from his opponent. That night, Anthony wakes up from his sleep to find Shajivan missing. International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 310 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 He comes back after Anthony goes back to sleep. The next day, it is found that the man with whom Shajivan fought is missing and is later found to be dead. When Anthony asks Shajivan where he was last night, he replies that he had not gone anywhere and that it was just Anthony’s dream. But it is made clear that Shajivan has killed his opponent when he stands in front of a shattered mirror and gives an evil smile. This makes it clear that Shajivan has been completely ensnared in the spiral (churuli) just like the rest of the villagers. Meanwhile, Thankan comes back to the village and is furious to learn two strangers have been living in the village on his behalf and swears to the villagers that he had not hired anyone to work for him. The entire village turns against Anthony and Shajivan and gathers to attack them. As they rush towards them, Shajivan fires a gunshot, which terrorizes everyone. A terrified Thankan reveals that Mayiladumparambil Joy is his brother-in-law and takes Anthony and Shajivan to his house. The villagers also follow them. They reach the house to find Joy lying paralyzed. Thankan and his wife plead not to take Joy away. When the two police officers remain stubborn about taking Joy with them, all the villagers come together and wink their eyes mysteriously. Finally, Joy consents to go with them. As they leave, Joy recounts the tale of the monk and Perumadan, replacing the monk with two policemen and himself as the spirit. The officers soon realize that the wooden bridge they originally crossed has vanished. Lost, they follow Joy’s guidance onto a new road, which spirals deeper into the forest. Joy elaborates that everything they have experienced is part of a never-ending cycle. Suddenly, he miraculously recovers from his paralysis and frees himself. Anthony halts the jeep, mesmerized by floating orbs of light that merge into a pulsating moon. As he turns to Shajivan, he notices a strange calmness in his expression. Shajivan closes his eyes and inexplicably swaps places with Joy. Overcome by an eerie euphoria, the trio embraces as the moon expands, drawing them in. The jeep levitates, carrying them towards the glowing celestial body until they merge with it, vanishing into the surreal unknown. Conclusion By immersing its characters and viewers in an environment where time loops, identities blur, and the boundaries of reality are constantly challenged, the film echoes Breton’s call for a more liberated, intuitive engagement with art. The forest itself functions as a liminal International Journal of Research (IJR) e-ISSN: 2348-6848 p-ISSN: 2348-795X Vol. 12 Issue 13 October 2025 Received: 12 October 2025 311 Revised: 25 October 2025 Accepted: 30 October 2025 Copyright  authors 2025 DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.5281/ZENODO.17505324 space—a setting that exists between worlds, much like the landscapes depicted in surrealist paintings. The disintegration of the rational world into an anarchic dreamscape mirrors Breton’s argument that surrealist art must challenge reality rather than adhere to it. Furthermore, Churuli’s use of symbolic imagery, fragmented dialogues, and disorienting visual effects contributes to its surrealist quality. The deliberate ambiguity in character identities and the inexplicable transformations they undergo reflect the fluidity of self, a recurring theme in surrealist literature and cinema. Pellissery’s approach to sound design and cinematography enhances this effect, immersing the audience in a hypnotic, trance-like experience that recalls the techniques employed by surrealist artists to disrupt conventional perception. The fusion of these elements positions Churuli as a contemporary embodiment of surrealist principles, demonstrating how Breton’s vision continues to influence and evolve within modern artistic expressions. By examining Churuli through the lens of Breton’s surrealism, this paper unravels how Pellissery’s film not only aligns with but also reinvents surrealist traditions. It contends that Churuli, through its dreamlike structure, liminal setting, and sensory immersion, transcends conventional cinematic norms to offer an experience that challenges the boundaries of perception and meaning. In doing so, the film exemplifies surrealism’s enduring capacity to expand artistic possibilities and provoke new ways of seeing reality. References Breton, Andre. Manifestoes of Surrealism. The University of Michigan Press, Oct. 1924. Churuli. Directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, Movie Monastery/ Chembosky Motion Pictures, 2021. YouTube, uploaded by BM, 19 Jan. 2025, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7f4tUnydG0&t=6269s. Praveen, S.R “'Churuli' movie review: A roller-coaster ride down a never-ending spiral.” THE HINDU, 12 Feb. 2021, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/churuli-movie-review-a-rollercoaster-ride-down-a-never-ending-spiral/article33812111.ece. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025. Shrijith, Sajin. “'Churuli' Review: A wild, captivating trip to a lawless world.” THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS, 20 Nov. 2021,