Dark alleys and rain-soaked forest patches of rural Kerala set the tone for a gritty cat-and-mouse chase between a serial killer and a couple of cops on his tail in the trailer of Disney+ Hotstar's first Malayalam series Kerala Crime Files.

Dropped on Sunday by the streamer, the two-minute-18-second trailer sees Lal and Aju Varghese as two cops on a dogged hunt for a serial killer who has hacked several sex workers to death. A woman’’s body found at a suburban lodge room kickstarts the investigation for local police whose only lead is a fake name and address in the lodge register. Despite zero pressure from higher authorities due to the lack of involvement of any prominent figure in the case, the cop duo set out to seek justice for the victims.

We get to see the serial killer — bare-bodied and smoking — standing against a window. The dialogues also reveal how difficult the case is for the cops who have to cover every blade of grass in search of any trace left by the perpetrator. However, a person comes out of the situation alive and gives the police some information about the killer, providing them with a flicker of light in what appears to be a long and dark tunnel of misinformation.

Directed by Ahammed Khabeer, Kerala Crime Files will be streamed on Disney+Hotstar on June 23. Apart from Malayalam, the series will also be available in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali and Marathi.