Set on a moving train on a rain-soaked night, a chance encounter between a 32-year-old everyman and an 8,000-year-old immortal – and a rat!– triggers a series of events that will intertwine their destinies. Amidst moral dilemmas and unexpected compassion, the ordinary man grapples with survival while the immortal – played with no small amount of relish by the charismatic Nivin Pauly – seeks to heal centuries-old wounds. Tamil filmmaker Ram’s fifth feature is a cinematic mediation on Tamil philosophy, whilst simultaneously offering an exploration of love, pain, suffering, compassion and redemption – what might surprise anyone familiar with Ram’s previous work is how markedly different, in tone, style and scale Seven Seas Seven Hills is.