Polite Society is one of those rare gems in which you think you’re going to be sitting through another movie about the struggles of modern youth with Eastern cultures and traditions. Then, it takes you for an exciting hard left turn through its second act and you realizde that no matter how absurd it feels, it really freaking works.
Normally movies like this grind my gears. Movies like Sorry to Bother You or Barton Fink that take hard lefts lose my attention. Mainly, it’s because the set-up makes you think you’re going to be watching something else so for the first half or so you kinda get invested and things change. No spoilers because neither movie is really worth the warning but in Sorry to Bother You it’s reveal a millionaire entrepreneur wants to turn people into horse-human hybrids and in Barton Fink, we learn that the John Goodman character is actually a Nazi serial killer.
These twists might have worked if the respected movies didn’t lead us to believe we were watching a satire about the telecommunications industry as in Bother and about a quirky playwright struggling with writer’s block when commissioned to write a script as in Fink. No Polite Society drops hints along the way to tell you that it’s going to be more than another movie like The Namesake.
Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) is a British-Pakistani teenager who lives in London where she wants to be a stuntwoman like Eunice Huthart. But it seems her school and her parents think she should focus on a more generic career and give up her love for martial arts as she calls herself The Fury. Her older sister, Lena (Rita Aryu) has dropped out of art school and struggling with whether she should keep her focus on being a painter or take the office job her parents, Fatima (Shobu Kapoor) and Rafe (Jeff Mirza), can make one phone call to get.
Things change when their family is invited to Eid Mubarak soiree hosted by the wealthy Raheela (Nimra Bucha) at her lavish mansion. But Ria discovers that Raheela has an ulterior motive other than showing off. She’s looking for a bride for her pampered son, Salim (Akshay Khanna) a successful genetics but obviously just a mama’s boy. Much to her surprise, Salim chooses Lena and Ria can sense that something isn’t right about Raheela. While everyone else seems to be happy, Ria feels that it’s not right.
While a comedy, the movie does examine cultures and expectations, not just of Eastern cultures but Western as well. We live in a society where everyone fawns over someone getting engaged but is it the right thing to do. In movies like Son-in-Law and To Die For, released in the mid-1990s, getting married and having kids was almost expected. And I’ve had several of my friends on social media say they’ve had to correct people who think a post is about them getting married or having kids. Remember what Jennifer Garner went through back in 2020 when she was making post on social media and everyone thought she was pregnant again?
And since they are Pakistani, Ria’s teacher even makes a suggestion that she should go to a pharmacy to do her school mentorship. Sadly, Ria is mocked by many for her love of stunt work and martial arts. She is teased by the school bully, Kovacs (Shona Babeyemi). She also thinks that Lena should follow through with her art school, but her and Ria come to blows literally when it appears Ria is meddling too much. Ria gets her school friends, Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) to help her spy and see if she can find some dirt on Salim.
Eventually, Ria discovers she’s right to behave this way as both Salim and Raheela have a huge reason for selecting Lena. To give it away would spoil too much. But writer-director Nida Manzoor manages to make it work without it feeling like a cheat. It also helps that everyone gives the right performances. Kansara and Arya are so perfect in their roles and when things go outrageous in the third act, their performances don’t get bogged down by action. Bucha is perfect in her antagonistic role and Khanna portrays the wimpy weasal role just the way he should.
Like I said, not to give too much away, but if you’re a fan of martial arts movies, you’ll find yourself amazed at some of the action here.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 