Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj and produced by Seven Screen Studio, Leo is an action thriller movie released in Tamil in 2023. Mysskin, Madonna Sebastian, George Maryan, Mansoor Ali Khan, Priya Anand, Mathew Thomas, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Trisha, Gautham Vasudev Menon, and Vijay play the title character in the movie. Drawing inspiration from A History of Violence, this is the third installment in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. In the movie, gangsters Antony and Harold Das after Parthi, an animal rescuer and café owner in Theog, believing him to be Antony's estranged son Leo.Since it's Vijay's 67th movie in the main role, the movie was first formally announced in January 2023 under the working title Thalapathy 67.
In Theog, Himachal Pradesh, Parthiban "Parthi" owns a café and rescues animals. He resides there with his wife Sathya, son Siddharth "Siddhu," and daughter Mathi "Chintu." A spotted hyena that is posing a threat to the locals is called for assistance by Parthi's buddy, Joshy Andrews, a forest ranger, one day. Parthi subdues the hyena with Siddhu's assistance. He takes deliberate steps to keep this episode out of the public eye and, once the hyena settles down, adopts it.
Parthi and Chintu are in the café one night when robber Shanmugham and his men show up to take advantage of the place. As Parthi tries to buy them off with money, one of the gang members advances on Shruthi, his worker. Parthi beats them all out of rage. Parthi kills them all without hesitation when one of them tries to kill Chintu, but she subsequently experiences an emotional collapse. After being detained at first, Parthi is freed on the grounds that he killed the victims out of self-defense, but his picture still appears in Indian publications. Reputable Telangana gangster Harold Das notices one such picture and tells his older brother Antony Das about it. With his troops, Antony heads straight for Theog.
Shanmugham requests that a senior, armed police officer from Tamil Nadu be sent to his home for protection as his relatives try to murder Parthi and his family in the meantime. Napoleon, who was recently elevated due to his heroics with Dilli in Tiruchirappalli, grants Parthi's request and assigns him to defend his family. When Antony first meets Parthi, he strongly asserts that Parthi is his son Leo Das, who was thought to be deceased. Parthi angrily disputes this. Antony warns him, telling him to embrace who he is and give up or pay the price. When Sathya first meets Antony, she is prompted to learn more about Parthi's background after learning that Leo is a mass murderer. Joshy begins investigating Leo's past at the same time and discovers information on his friend Hridayaraj Souza.
Das & Co. is the name of the tobacco factory Antony founded in 1999. Harold used the business as a front to manufacture and smuggle datura, a substance far more deadly than cocaine, after returning to India from Canada. The plant's tobacco products did not do well. Leo and Elisa Das, Antony's twins, handled the grunt work so they could focus on running the company efficiently. Strongly believing in the occult, Antony attempted, on the recommendation of his astrologer, to sacrifice Elisa in order to boost sales of his tobacco products. Leo, furious, destroys all of Harold's medicines, but Harold succeeds in killing Elisa, and Antony shoots Leo, who is thereafter thought to be dead.
Joshy is certain that Parthi is not Leo after hearing this, and Sathya also receives solid evidence to support her belief. Siddhu is abducted by Antony, who then claims that he will sacrifice Siddhu because he was unable to sacrifice Elisa with his own hands. Parthi eventually catches up with Antony and his troops after he and Napoleon pursue them. He eliminates Antony and his men, but he is unable to locate Siddhu. After learning of Antony's passing, Harold asks Parthi to deliver Antony's body so that Siddhu can be returned. Harold tells Parthi that he has ordered soldiers to assassinate Sathya and Chintu as she enters his lair. But all of the men are killed by the hyena, Joshy, and Napoleon. Harold's soldiers assault Parthi in their hideout,
Harold now believes that Parthi is not Leo and declares that he and his family are free to leave. But before Parthi shoots Harold, saves Siddhu, and sets fire to the entire Das & Co. plant, he bursts into laughter and finally acknowledges that he is Leo. Leo reveals that he had revealed Antony the truth about his identity before killing him when he says that he has done nothing good in the past and that anyone who insists on hearing his narrative must either die or be dead already.
As Parthi's life begins to feel more peaceful in the epilogue, he receives a call. The caller admits that he is aware that Parthi is a Leo and informs him that eliminating his family's datura factory alone would not be sufficient to eradicate drugs from Indian culture because drugs are widely available there. The caller adds, "I know Parthi recognizes me," as Parthi lets out a frustrated sigh.
