text: The film revolves around a middle-aged man Unni and his three sisters; and their struggle to let go of Kerala's feudal system of life. His elder sister fights for her share of the property, whilst his obedient younger sister works for Unni like a slave. Eventually, succumbing to the adverse conditions surrounding him, he withdraws like a rat into a hole. The Rat Trap acts as a metaphor to understand how the women are placed within the feudal system of Kerala. Gopalakrishnan says in his interview that the movie was inspired by the feudal characteristics of his own family. Silence is a huge trope in the movie, with large swathes of silence in dialogue, the way the camera lingers on the characters, follows them through the scene, almost unbearably patient. The sister Rajamma is destroyed by the silence of her brother, who does not support her when she wants to get married, keeps silent when she is ailing and dying. The patriarchal figure of the "little master" is completely incapable of facing any threat to his position, he cannot take care of himself without the women, cannot face the taunts and the threats of his extended family and the villagers. He needs to be propped up by his sisters who cook for him, clean for him, while he oils himself when he is even incapable of negotiating the outer world which is changing the form of patriarchy- from feudal to nationalist. The Rat Trap is a metaphor to show how the women are trapped within the system- how they are locked into place. The women are represented by Rajamma who wears blue to show her gentleness- she is even incapable of imagining how to chart her life outside patriarchy but the revolt against it shows in her silence, in her suffering. Gopalakrishnan says he gave her blue to wear to show her gentleness. The eldest sister wears green to show fruition- she has survived in patriarchy by marriage and bearing children but not quite- she still worries about wealth and how to feed her family, who uses her as a tool to get more money from her brother. The Most interesting character is Rajamma  to show how she suffers silently against the silence meted out to her by patriarchy when she asks for justice. She screams in the movie- "when will I get out of this hell-hole."This shows how patriarchy is slowly destroying the women, they revolt through their suffering. The film is beautiful because Rajamma doesn't revolt like the younger sister but utters her attenuated critiques through her silence- shows what a hypocritical, cowardly, weak and despicable her elder brother is. The younger sister, Sridevi wears red, which Gopalakrishnan says is to symbolize revolt. She runs away from the family, presumably with a lover. The feudal characteristics of the patriarchy is shown through the way Unni treats his servants, the various people who visit him and most importantly how he treats Rajamma, his sister who takes care of him with utter selflessness. A beautiful movie and a must watch because of the absolutely unsettling experience it is to understand the violence of patriarchy. The music is throbbing, incomplete throughout the movie to show the sense of sustained urgency that the crippling patriarchal structure results in . The rats are caught by Sridevi and drowned just like the women who are destroyed within the trap of the feudal system.