Polite Society

“Polite Society draws from the personal frustrations and challenges of writer-director Nida Manzoor, who grew up in a Pakistani Muslim family.”

Title: Polite Society (2023)
Director: Nida Manzoor 👩🏽🇬🇧
Writer: Nida Manzoor 👩🏽🇬🇧

Reviewed by Elaine 👩🏻🇺🇸

—SPOILERS AHEAD—

Technical: 3.75/5

Polite Society fly-kicks to the screen for Nida Manzoor’s crowd-pleasing super smash of genres. In the director-writer’s film debut, teenage Ria (Priya Kansara) dreams of becoming a stuntwoman and uses her skills to rescue her older sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), from patriarchy’s clutches. This family epic/action flick is a proud homage of everything from Hong Kong action movies to Jane Austen to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010). But even as I half-expected a voiceover to announce “Fatality” whenever a fight ended, Polite Society avoids feeling derivative of the influences that Manzoor clearly adores.

The film has the zip and color of a comic book. Whip pans, rack focuses, and quick cuts abound, but Polite Society never comes off as frantic or overstuffed. The stunt choreography is clean, the rhythm of the film’s humor and action—assured. It helps that fantastic performances anchor the film, with clear chemistry between the two sisters.

This momentum doesn’t come without its costs though. Polite Society has more than its fair share of inconsistencies and contrivances to set up a plot point or a joke, many of which don’t hit as solidly as its characters’ punches. But if you're willing to suspend disbelief as well as Ria can suspend her kicks in mid-air, you're in for a joyous caper. Besides, anyone watching Polite Society for the verisimilitude is fighting a losing battle.

Gender: 4/5
Does it pass the Bechdel Test? YES

Polite Society has a fascinating roster of female fighters. Ria takes us on all the emotional highs and lows of being an impetuous teenager. Lena is a depressed art school dropout who skulks around her house and chews rotisserie chickens whole in the streets. And although Ria scathingly accuses Lena of becoming “Stepford Wife”-ed, Polite Society doesn’t take away Lena’s agency in her choice to marry, nor does it indict the arranged marriage set up between Lena and the suave Salim (Akshay Khanna). It’s believable why Lena would fall for him, who flatters her with his attention and seems to be the only one who understands her feelings about leaving art school behind.

As for Salim’s mother, Raheela (played by a delightful Nimra Bucha) takes on the role of villain with gusto, elevating the fusty archetypal mother-in-law role. She doesn’t bat an eye at Lena and Salim sleeping together, and she challenges the taboos surrounding period talk. And although she serves as Ria’s evil nemesis, viewers eventually discover Raheela’s motivations to be reasonable, perhaps even relatable. She simply wants more than the stifled life she’s led and will stop at nothing to achieve that.

Unfortunately, Polite Society’s propulsion doesn’t always allow these well-developed foundations to, well, develop further. For example, Ria’s arc plateaus, and her moments of contrition for treating her sister and her friends so poorly are brief. At the end, her final whirling kick should symbolize her emotional growth. Instead, it seems to succeed more because her opponent, Raheela, happens to be standing in the right place.

But at the end of the day, Polite Society is meant to be a story of sisterly love, and that’s where it shines. Scenes like the one where Ria and Lena go all-out in a furniture-busting brawl feel painfully honest, Manzoor skillfully balancing the emotional with the physical: They rip into each other’s most vulnerable parts and leave massive destruction behind. But the film doesn’t delve into their affection as deeply, and their intimacy can appear limited to the impromptu dance parties they break into. That lack of growth in their relationship is underlined by the film’s resolution—a mere return to the status quo, Lena once again recording Ria's stunt videos for her, and the two of them dancing together.

Similarly, Ria’s best mates Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) are charming, but regrettably interchangeable. As much as the trio’s dynamic delighted me, I wish Polite Society had taken a little time to get past their sidekick façades. When the students share future goals at school, we focus on Ria’s dream to become a stuntwoman, but not anything of her friends’.

Clara (left), Ria (center), and Alba (right)

Race: 5/5

I love dance battles as much as the next person, but I think I may have found something even better in Ria’s Bollywood routine, which takes place during the climactic wedding sequence. Everything, from the choreography to Ria’s green sari, is an obvious nod to Devdas (2002), the Bollywood film the song is from. However, it also captures Ria’s personality as she uses it to challenge Salim, infusing the original choreography with new meaning like when she chops a hand to her palm and turns it into a threat. It’s the perfect encapsulation of Polite Society, more so when you consider that the original song is about a woman sacrificing herself for love. Here, the love that Ria has committed herself to is sisterly rather than romantic.

The Devdas homage also pulls from Manzoor’s own experience dancing at friends’ weddings. Indeed, Polite Society is not only a greatest hits list of Manzoor’s passions, but also of her life. Manzoor, who grew up in a Pakistani Muslim family, draws from her personal frustrations and challenges. Like Ria, Manzoor also went to an all-girls school in London, and her punk predilections—she also wrote and directed the 2021 TV series We Are Lady Parts about a Muslim female punk band—lend the film a riot grrrl spirit. This all roots Polite Society and gives it an organic authenticity, even through all the stylized hijinks.

Bonus for Religion: +1.00

Mothers murmur “Inshallah,” and the second act centers around an Eid party, but the fact that Ria’s family is Muslim is never the focus of the story. Rather, it’s just another vibrant part of her characters. Manzoor is less concerned with sharing her culture in literal terms, and instead seems to say, “Look at how vivid and fun this can all be.”

Mediaversity Grade: A- 4.58/5

Polite Society brims with a bombastic youthful energy, and its unique voice is all the more refreshing because it never feels the need to prove its own originality.

Like Polite Society? Try these other titles featuring weddings.

Grade: ALiMay 1, 2023Great for: Race, Great for: Religion, Female/Nonbinary Creator