‘Big trouble. Little sister.”
Polite Society is a 2023 British action comedy film about a Pakistani schoolgirl who must save her older sister from an arranged evil marriage.
Written and directed by Nida Manzoor (Doctor Who episodes; We Are Lady Parts series creator). The movie stars Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Nimra Bucha, Akshay Khanna, Seraphina Beh and Ella Bruccoleri.
Plot synopsis:
A London Pakistani schoolgirl and tireless martial artist in training, Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) is determined to become a world-renowned stuntwoman. She’s crushed when her big sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), drops out of art school, starts dating Salim — the charming, wealthy son of the prominent Shah family — and announces, after barely a month, that they plan to marry and move to Singapore!
How could Lena abandon her artistic dreams to become some trophy wife? But Ria soon realises that something isn’t right, leaving her no choice but to enlist her friends in a daring mission to kidnap Lena from her own wedding…
Release:
Polite Society had its world premiere in the Midnight section at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
In the US, the film was released theatrically in select locations by Focus Features on April 28, 2023. It is currently on general cinema release in the UK.
Reviews:
“Polite Society is a pointed satire of the marriage market, a world in which secondary education is offered to young women on the understanding that they must surrender to demure wifehood a few years later than normal. And its macabre plot twists show how this same marriage market infantilises young men, revealing an awful truth to brides as to who exactly is the most important woman in the groom’s life.” 4 out of 5, The Guardian
“Surviving early on by the strength of Kansara’s ability to convey the right amount of non-annoying determination to pursue her chosen career and eventually the sheer gumption she uses to save her sister, Polite Society requires a bit of effort to settle in. Once it does, it connects in a big way. The fight sequences are bold and unique, and its rich color palette allows the actors and the scenery to pop.” The MN Movie Fan
“High-concept nonsense aside, Polite Society is moderately enjoyable and its acknowledgement of knocking off tropes (one character basically admits it) is the type of energy the remainder of the film could have used. The action is fairly spunky, Arya and Kansara make a great pair, and the stuntwomen-inspired subplot is certainly welcome.” C+ The Only Critic
“Polite Society is the kind of action-comedy that gets nuttier and nuttier, especially as Ria’s inclinations become a hilarious self-fulfilling prophecy. I’m not entirely sure Polite Society nails its reality-breaking evolution as it becomes a full-on action movie, but it does make for a wild third act where Manzoor shows plenty of chops with fast fights and punchy jokes.” RogerEbert.com
“The action scenes themselves are well-choreographed and engaging. Some of them go on for a bit longer than necessary, but they’re still delightful to watch, especially in the film’s big finale. With so much action and comedy — the cast’s comedic timing and occasional exaggerations are incredibly well done — Polite Society has a lot of heart, style, and personality. Audiences will definitely have plenty of fun watching it.” Screen Rant
“The performances are what carry the film. It’s not an uninspired film, and that’s the disappointing element of it because everything it decides to pull in feels like a carbon copy of something else just grafted onto a strong relationship. The passion for its characters and the fear of losing your only support system is strongly felt throughout Polite Society; it’s just too preoccupied with leaving an impression that it ends up leaving none.” Tilt
“It would have been nice to see, especially in the third act, a film more in conversation with the brilliant motifs and archetypes of Asian action cinema. As a result, Polite Society is an amusing, affecting, and confident feature debut for Manzoor and a strong calling card for its cast – but it’s missing the necessary ingredients to make it iconic.” We Love Cinema
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