MOVIE REVIEW: Polite Society

Nadia Manzoor has made a statement with Polite Society by putting out an unapologetically feminist film, but what makes Polite Society stand out is that the feminist film is neither insulting or oppressive towards it’s potential male audience.

In the Asian enclave of L.A. I grew up in, there was a notable portion of South Asian’s that resided in my (626) stomping grounds. There was a pair of Afro-Indian sisters that grew to be fond of me, and upon observing them from pubesence to their young adulthood, I had noticed some of the tropes within their sisterhood that I could easily point out on-screen, and see certain mannerisms not as a stereotype but as a celebration of South Asian culture. This movie is that celebration, but the nationalism does not put Polite Society to be typecast in a box of another Bollywood movie; even with the musical number and the film’s overall premise being surrounded by a wedding.

In fact, Polite Society has made the grade to be the best film about stunt women since Tarantino’s Death Proof. Priya Kansara spearheading a cast of names to be on the lookout for (Seraphina Beh, Ella Bruccoleri, as well as Ria’s other classmates) are easy to get behind in support of the protagonists of this film which is as goofy as it is action packed. The plot spells disbelief as much as most of the action sequences mechanics helmed by Felix Brokbals but that doesn’t stop Polite Society from being an immersive experience. By the last legs of Manzoor’s picture I was in my seat applauding and screaming “I AM THE FURY” as the plot reached it’s climax.

Just as Death Proof before it, what sets apart Polite Society from other forced feminist drivel is that Manzipoor does not alienate her male audience. The characters knowingly follow a plotline where a female is only being looked at as important because she is the rightfully biological receiver of a male’s sperm. That’s it, and Manzipoor takes pride in her biology as opposed to so many U.S. film creator’s today that insist that human biology doesn’t exist and that the immaculate conception was anything more than a myth.

Manzipoor gets it right from the jump pitting the header title in English, Arabic, and Hindi. Taking careful consideration to not step on the toes of any of the culture’s that she was raised up in that bleeds into this story that should do numbers on the box office this weekend, though it probably won’t since the mainstream U.S. market has soured female-led productions by making women all appear invulnerable by default just for being born with a vagina.Manzipoor’s Polite Society is the medicine for all that feminist poison, even though the film is purely a female-driven ordeal. The audience gets to watch Kansara’s Ria falter and succeed, while Rita Aryu’s Lena gets to be the damsel in distress and allows herself to be rescued; a level of vulberability that not many female leads can accomplish in this modern era of cinema. Manzipoor should be considered no less than a breakout star from creating Polite Society and having the courage to create a film that is so unapologetically her, that after Polite Society is long out of print, Manzipoor will continue to be welcome in any society she chooses to bless with her presence just of the strength of this feature presentation.

Score : 5/5