Polite Society, 2023.
Written and Directed by Nida Manzoor.
Starring Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Shobu Kapoor, Ella Bruccoleri, Seraphina Beh, Shona Babayemi, Nimra Bucha, Jeff Mirza, Akshaye Khanna, Renu Brindle, Rekha John-Cheriyan, Sally Ann, Jenny Funnell, Sona Babayeva, Sophie Aisling, Su McLaughlin, Tia Dutt, and Eunice Huthart.
SYNOPSIS:
Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends’ help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists, in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Writer/director Nida Manzoor’s feature-length directorial debut Polite Society is a genre-bending oddity openly expressing its influences with just enough bizarre plot points, rebellious spirit, and cultural specificity to offset numerous clichés and a rather predictable narrative framework. The chapter cards and sudden breakouts into one-on-one fights bring to mind Quentin Tarantino, whereas quirky British humor resembles Edgar Wright. Both are smashed into a story sliding right into Jane Austen’s territory.
Sisters Ria (Priya Kansara) and Lena (Ritu Arya) have passionate hobbies, much to the chagrin of traditional Pakistani parents that would prefer them to chase after more serious, legitimate careers. The former has aspirations of being a cinematic stuntwoman (occasionally writing letters to her hero Eunice Huthart, who is probably too busy working on a big Hollywood blockbuster to reply), which Nida Manzoor uses by heightening reality into moments of grounded and realistic martial arts, that nonetheless come across like a cartoon in context. The earliest example comes soon enough to set the tone, with a brawl breaking out between Ria and another student inside their private school, with characters smashing one another through glass display cases, coming away relatively unscathed.
Meanwhile, Lena has long wanted to become an artist but recently dropped out of college. She also shares a tight bond with Ria, recording her martial arts practicing, even if she sometimes needs to be playfully dragged out of bed and out of the house by Ria to be supportive. Nevertheless, these mostly happy dynamic changes once their parents force them to attend a soirée where a wealthy geneticist named Salim (Akshay Khanna) is essentially taking in-person arranged marriage interviews on behalf of his mother (Nimra Bucha), explaining that since she has made many sacrifices across his life, he wishes to do the same for her by finding the perfect match and settling down, presumably giving her grandchildren.
Lena appears to be the one and willing to give up her dream to settle for ordinary married life. It’s a decision that Ria doesn’t take too well, banding together with her goofy friends Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) and Clara (Seraphina Beh), scheming to break off the marriage somehow, increasingly escalating their behavior from diplomacy to digging for incriminating evidence on Salim’s laptop. Naturally, Ria’s insistence on taking these antics to more invasive and morally questionable extremes puts a strain on the tight-knit friendship, at least until she discovers that something fishy and strange is indeed going on with Salim’s intentions.
When Polite Society focuses on that friendship and follows through on wild plans (such as bonding male disguises inside a gym to break into Salim’s locker and steal his laptop temporarily), it’s silly, pleasantly amusing fun. There’s a charming camaraderie between the friends, each of which feels distinct in the style of comedy they bring to the table; Alba is a deer in the headlights type fixated on boys, whereas Clara is the sharp tech guru with darker humor. Most scenes generally lead to Ria ending up in a kung fu confrontation with someone, and even if they don’t always feel tightly incorporated, they are typically exciting to watch.
The only major downside to Polite Society is that once the twist is revealed, which is already somewhat transparent save for the specifics, it doesn’t have much elsewhere to go during its extended wedding sequence replete with stealth and action that eventually starts to drag. And while there probably isn’t much of an intention to craft stunning fight choreography, some of the later battle scenes fail to impress, especially considering the novelty has worn off. The fights also seem to be over just as they are truly getting underway.
However, Polite Society is still doing something thoughtfully weird inside that familiar blueprinting, getting at parenting, what kind of children people want, and who or what they want their offspring to be. Nida Manzoor demonstrates more than enough imaginative style to mark her down as a noteworthy fresh filmmaker voice to watch, whereas Priya Kansara is simply a joy to watch, carrying the movie capably during its rougher stretches. As a film, Polite Society lands most of its moves.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
