ICU, the Malayalam thriller that marked director George Varghese's return after 16 years, will start streaming on Sun NXT on November 6, 2026. The platform announced the date on X on November 3 with a new poster and the line "ICU from Nov 6th on SunNXT". The film stars Bibin George, Baburaj, Murali Gopy and Vismaya, and it reached theatres on February 27, 2026.
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The Sun NXT poster carries an "Exclusive" tag and labels the film Malayalam. As of November 4, no streaming time or dubbed versions have been announced.
ICU from theatres to OTT
Motion poster: Unveiled by Prithviraj Sukumaran around February 22, 2026
Trailer: February 25, 2026, on the Mini Music YouTube channel
Theatrical release: February 27, 2026
OTT announcement: November 3, 2026, on Sun NXT's X handle
OTT premiere: November 6, 2026, on Sun NXT
Gap: A little over eight months
George Varghese returns after Thanthonni
George Varghese made his directorial debut with Thanthonni (2010), an action drama starring Prithviraj Sukumaran, about a wayward young man at odds with his family. ICU sits in a very different space. The trailer sets most of its action around a hospital, a forest road and a string of night scenes, and it plays as a tense thriller with a mystery at its centre.
Prithviraj, the lead of Thanthonni, came back to unveil the ICU motion poster in February, which several outlets including Madhyamam and News18 reported at the time. It was a small gesture, but it tied the director's two films together.
What the trailer shows
The trailer opens with a jeep on a hill road and moves quickly into a hospital setting, with a cardiology wing sign in one shot. It cuts between a police officer, a young couple on a scooter, a lakeside bench and a run of night chases, and it never names the patient at the heart of the story. The Sun NXT poster line "Oro nimishavum nirnayakam" translates loosely as "every minute is decisive".
Cast and crew
As reported by HT Telugu, Bibin George plays Unni, Baburaj plays Michael, Murali Gopy plays Francis and Vismaya plays Indu. Vismaya made her debut in the Tamil film Uriyadi 2 (2019), produced by Suriya's 2D Entertainment. The makers have not formally published a character list.
The trailer credits list MiniStudio as the banner, with Jain Paul as producer according to reports. The story and screenplay are by Santhosh Kumar. Jose Franklin composed the music, BK Harinarayanan wrote the lyrics, Loganathan Srinivasan ISC handled the camera and Lijo Paul edited the film. Good Fellas Release distributed it in Kerala, as reported by Asianet News.
The film runs 1 hour 51 minutes and carries a UA certificate, as reported by HT Telugu.
Where to watch ICU
ICU streams on Sun NXT from November 6, 2026. For the rest of this week's home releases, including I'm Game on JioHotstar, see our OTT section.
