Every once in a while, I see a movie that I feel like has
crept in under the radar and is cool, different, really entertaining and I
hope more people get to see it. In April of 2022, it was Everything Everywhere
All At Once, which ended up doing just fine.
This year in April I saw Polite Society and I feel the same way, hoping
it gets more eyeballs as the year goes on.
I had seen the trailer for this movie and knew it would be
up my alley. Ria is a young English woman
growing up in a Pakistani home with conservative and traditional parents trying
to navigate the social and economic circles of their friends and family. Ria’s passion is martial arts and she
eventually hopes to become a stunt woman like her idol, Eunice Huthart. Her older sister Lena, an art school dropout,
helps her make online videos practicing her moves while she writes to Eunice
for advice and guidance while the girls’ parents are discouraging both of their
dreams.
At an Eid Mubarak party hosted by a suspiciously wealthy
friend, Raheela, Ria grows suspicious of Raheela’s matchmaking attempts for her
son, Salim – but Lena finds him charming and suddenly they are dating and then
engaged. Is Ria right to be
suspicious? Or is she overreacting? To find out, Ria enlists her friends and frenemy
to discover the truth about Salim and his mother and rescue her sister from
what may or may not be an evil plot.
The movie is directed by Nida Manzoor who also did the show
We Are Lady Parts. The scenes between
the two sisters are wonderful with Priya Kansara as Ria and Ritu Arya as Lena. It
is very easy to believe their relationship and how far Ria will go to protect
Lena. I absolutely loved the support they
show for each other and even when they are fighting, it feels like a gut
punch. I also loved the relationships between Ria and her school friends. They were there for her when she needed them, but also called her out when she was acting unhinged. While you may expect the family and relationship drama portions to be great, what surprised me was how fantastic and epic the
action sequences are. Just about
everyone is a martial arts master for no reason whatsoever other than it makes
the fight sequences absolutely cinematic.
Overall, this movie is fun, action-packed, hilarious, and
also warm and touching. It is a genuine joy to watch. I really loved it, and I hope you check it out
– you can currently catch it on Peacock Premium.
9 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment