2023 · Film
2018
Malayalam disaster drama, also titled 2018: Everyone Is a Hero, following ordinary people across Kerala as the 2018 floods engulf their villages.
Reviewed by Movie Mandala, Sun, 18 Oct, 2026
Where to watch
IndiaAs of 24 October 2026, 2018 is streaming in India on SonyLIV with a subscription.
With subscription
Choose the title marked '2018: Everyone Is A Hero (Hindi)'; confirmed through Airtel Xstream Play's SonyLIV listing, which shows Hindi audio
Checked Sat, 24 Oct, 2026 via Airtel Xstream listing
The story
In 2018, in the Kerala village of Aruvikulam, Anoop, a former soldier who left the army, works at a shop and hopes to marry Manju, a local schoolteacher. Elsewhere, a fisherman's family deals with a son who wants to model rather than fish, a government officer tracks missing fishermen after a storm, and Sethupathi, a lorry driver from drought-hit Tamil Nadu, takes on a dangerous delivery into Kerala. As relentless rain turns into the worst floods in a century, their separate lives start to converge.
Spoiler-free: only the set-up.
Who it suits
Viewers who want a large-scale ensemble disaster film rooted in a real event, told through several intercut stories. There are scenes of drowning, loss and peril, but no gore, and the 148-minute runtime gives the build-up time before the floods hit.
Genres:DramaThrillerTrue stories
Curation to help you choose, not a review.
Background
2018 dramatises the 2018 Kerala floods. Jude Anthany Joseph announced it in September 2018 under the working title 2403 Ft., and filming began in October 2019. It stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrapped on 13 November 2022 after 102 days of shooting across 120 locations. Real water was used to film the flooding scenes, and Kavya Film Company and PK Prime Production produced the film on a reported budget of ₹26 crore.
It opened in Kerala on 5 May 2023. Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubs followed on 26 May, with Anand Pandit presenting the Hindi version. SonyLIV began streaming it on 7 June 2023 in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. With a gross of about ₹177 crore, it became the highest-grossing Malayalam film until Manjummel Boys (2024). It was India's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards but was not shortlisted, and it won Best Film and Best Director (Malayalam) at the 69th Filmfare Awards South.
The facts
- Language
- Malayalam
- Hindi
- Hindi dub available
- Genre
- Disaster drama, Survival thriller
- Runtime
- 148 min
- Director
- Jude Anthany Joseph
- Cast
- Tovino Thomas, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Lal
Questions people ask
- Where can I watch 2018 in India?
- As of 24 October 2026, 2018 is streaming in India on SonyLIV with a subscription.
- Is 2018 available in Hindi?
- Yes. 2018 was made in Malayalam, and a Hindi-dubbed version is available on SonyLIV.
- How long is 2018?
- 2018 runs for 2 hours 28 minutes (148 minutes).