“Polite Society” Review
In “Polite Society,” Ria Khan (Priya Kansas) plots to use her extensive knowledge of martial arts and stunt work to stop an evil plot at her older sister’s wedding.
One of my favorite forms of comedy comes from when outlandish behavior is seen as the norm. By bringing incredible martial arts to a story about family drama, “Polite Society” is a distinctively entertaining film that brings all the warm feels and a solid punch together.
In London, Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) is a Pakistani teenager with dreams of becoming a Hollywood stunt woman and dedicates every moment of her time to this goal. She studies martial arts, learns how to take strong blows and uploads many videos of her stunts to YouTube in hopes of growing a following as “The Fury.” The only member of her family that really understands Ria’s aspirations is her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya), but everything changes when Lena becomes engaged to a successful geneticist (Akshay Khanna) who plans to whisk her off to Singapore. When Ria begins to suspect that Lena’s soon-to-be-in-laws have sinister plans, Ria plots with her friends to sabotage the wedding, rescue Lena and maybe kick many asses along the way.
Making her directorial debut, Nida Manzoor, whose previous work has included the Peacock original series “We Are Lady Parts,” creates a visceral action comedy that never loses sight of its main goal. The script, which Manzoor wrote, is essentially a drama between two sisters with Ria struggling to let go of Lena. However, Manzoor keeps this kind of story fresh by having lots of exciting action.
The connection between Ria and Lena is quite compelling with both of them having big dreams that are threatened by everyone’s disbelief. Ria wants to be a stuntwoman while Lena had dreams of being an artist before dropping out of art school. Wanting to escape from a doldrum existence, it’s no surprise why Lena would want to marry this charming and successful man. But Ria is having none of this, especially as she stumbles upon a secret plot by Lena’s fiancé Salim and his villainous mother Raheela (Nimra Bucha).
The energy that Priya Kansara brings to this performance is outstanding. The passion Ria has for stunt work is incredible and borderline psychotic. In school, when she’s mocked, she will pick fights with fellow students and get slammed into a bookcase. While this might be a defeat for most, Ria sees it as a way to learn by learning how to take such a blow.
But the protagonist is only as good as the antagonist and Raheela is a damn good villain. She’s so menacing and is capable of inflicting so much physical and emotional damage, making her a worthy adversary for Ria. When Ria finds out what Lena’s in-laws are up to, it’s delightfully crazy. In the world of “Polite Society,” characters can beat the living hell out of each other in elaborate action sequences inspired by Southeast Asian cinema and it’s treated as the norm.
Manzoor’s handling of action sequences is fantastic with a strong balance of comedic timing and excellent stunt work. Unlike many modern CGI blockbusters, where the stunts seem to blend into the background, these over-the-top fights feel more realistic. So many of these blows look like they really hurt and bring to life the principle that comedy is pain plus timing. When the plot against the sisters comes to a head at the wedding, it results in one hell of a climax.
Paired with incredible comedy, “Polite Society” is richly entertaining in how well it gets its point across with the bond of sisterhood while still giving the audience a good time. This is the kind of film that I want more people to see. If you feel that modern action films and blockbusters are starting to feel more homogenous and uneventful, this is the kind of film that I would recommend.
