Director
Nida Manzoor

Starring
Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya and Nimra Bucha

There’s lots to like about the debut feature from writer/director Nida Manzoor in Polite Society, however there are also a number of facets of the film that just don’t quite hit the mark. Admittedly I went into this one wholeheartedly expecting to love it, so perhaps I’m suffering the effects of expectations that weren’t able to be met. But when you see a film about a young British-Pakistani, Muslim girl who wants to be a martial arts stunt woman and makes it her mission to stop her sister from falling into the trap of an arranged marriage of sorts, AND the film is written and directed by a woman with that same background….it’s hard not to get excited.

The premise is a good one; high school student Ria (Priya Kansara) wants nothing more than to be a stunt woman. She practices her moves and has her sister Lena (Ritu Arya) video them for her YouTube channel. She takes on school bullies (unsuccessfully) and engages her best friends Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) in a number of preposterous schemes.  When Lena meets and quickly becomes engaged to the seemingly charming and highly eligible bachelor Salim (Akshay Khanna), Ria straight away clocks that something doesn’t seem right, and makes it her mission to uncover why Salim really wants to marry Ria’s art school dropout sister. Standing in Ria’s way though is the brilliantly sinister Nimra Bucha as Salim’s controlling mother. The hijinks that follow are elaborate and entertaining, but also a little confusing at times.

When reading about director Nida Manzoor’s background, she cites early artistic influences of Jackie Chan films and Edgar Wright. Those inspirations are definitely noticeable in Polite Society. I love the endeavor that Manzoor has undertaken here, to bring a fresh slant to the martial arts satire genre and hopefully bring a whole new audience to its door. Sadly where Manzoor falls flat is by not fully committing to the exercise. At times it’s hard to tell exactly what Polite Society is trying to be. It’s not quite satirical or funny enough to be obvious that this is the direction it wants to take us in, but it’s certainly not a straight action film. It’s almost a high school comedy with some action in it. There are some really great scenes, particularly those involving Ria’s best friends; Seraphina Beh and Ella Bruccoleri have some incredible comedic timing. Unfortunately most of the other best bits are also in the trailer. It’s definitely one of those films where you kind of feel like you’ve watched it before you have. That being said, the cast certainly give it their all and put on a good show for the audience, and that makes this film very worthy of your time.

Despite not meeting my lofty expectations, it’s still a solid first attempt from Manzoor, and hopefully the first of many films from her. Onwards and upwards from here.

Polite Society is in cinemas now.