Polite Society: Preview at the BFI

Last night, I attended the BFI’s preview of Polite Society, a comedy that was written and directed by Nida Manzoor.

The film follows Ria, a 16-year-old determined to be a stunt woman, on her quest to break up her sister Lena’s engagement. Lena is losing hope in her art and jumps into a quick engagement with Salim. The fast moving-relationship catches Ria off guard, and she sets out to separate the two with the intention of keeping Lena close to home and to remind her sister of her dream of being an artist, but is her intuition onto something bigger?

The film is hilarious on a variety of levels; it’s light-touch with satire of Bollywood/Lollywood movie tropes, it hits closer to home with relatable generational differences in South Asian mindsets, and it is layered with themes of life purpose, belief in self/others, and sisterhood. Within this depth, it’s simultaneously the funniest movie I’ve seen in years.

That’s because Manzoor has executed the film in a non-traditional sense - she has created it inclusive of an absurdist perspective, as seen through kung-fu-style fighting waxing ladies, Pakistani aunties who pack a punch, and sibling fights that casually end in broken doors and blood.

The humor in the film is adjacent to All My Friends Hate Me, the blend of South Asian and western culture is reminiscent of Never Have I Ever, and the fight scenes are as impressive as Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

This is Manzoor’s debut film, and I am very impressed. I will be watching this again ASAP (with my family next time!).

Polite Society hits cinemas on April 28th - book your tickets now!