Critical reception
Gopika Is of The Times of India rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote that the film "makes it a passable crime thriller at best." She stated that the film has a slow pace, with the plot taking a long time to unfold. She also states that the film "struggles to connect the audience with its characters." She pointed out that the plot has multiple "twists and turns" and a "surprising ending," but many plot points are revealed abruptly without proper foreshadowing, and the numerous twists don't lead to a substantial conclusion. She noted that Aparna Balamurali's acting was "believable" in some points but "lacked intensity." She criticised the dialogues, the word choices and delivery as it "robbed all the intensity it deserved." [10]
S. R. Praveen of The Hindu criticises the film's weak screenplay and its over-reliance on excessive and unbelievable plot twists, which drains the film of any impact. He further criticises that instead of a "perfect thriller climax," the film resulted in a complicated and predictable narrative. He also noted that the film fails to maintain an intriguing pace despite approaching the mystery straight away. According to the review, the "dramatic" presentation, "stilted" dialogue, and "obvious" character reveals make the film's twists "almost laughable." He wrote: "The absence of a coherent, believable screenplay and the compulsion to deliver one shocking twist after another drains 'Mirage' of any impact." [11]
Princy Alexander of Onmanorama praised the cast performance, stating that Aparna Balamurali and Asif Ali share an "honest and natural chemistry." She notes that the twists were "compelling", while some scenes were "predictable." She also notes that the film's climax is somewhat underwhelming due to an overindulgence in suspense, and the female character's backstory motifs are "repetitive". She felt the background score "blends with the narrative" but found it was a "bit underwhelming." She praised the cinematography as "clean and unfussy." She wrote: "Overall, Mirage works as an engaging watch, with Jeethu delivering his trademark twists. But the burden of expectations and a tendency to overplay surprises hold the film back from becoming truly memorable." [12]
Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express rated Mirage 1.5 out of 5 stars and criticised the screenplay being "hollow" despite having frequent twists. He states that the film relies heavily on dialogue rather than visual storytelling. Despite having many twists, he points out that none of them are sufficiently surprising or emotionally engaging, which fails to hold the audience's attention. He criticised the weak characterisation of the characters as they seem "flat". He also gave a mixed review of the cast performance. He criticised the cinematography as "weird camera angles," and the music fails to uplift meaningfully. He wrote: "In the Asif Ali and Aparna Balamurali-starer, director Jeethu Joseph has tried to inflate a wafer-thin plot and an equally papery script by slipping in ineffectual twists very frequently." [13]
