What to Watch: Polite Society

Everything Everywhere All At Once has been my favorite film experience of the last few years. And because it was a critical and financial hit, I expect we’ll soon be hit with a wave of cheap knock-offs with all of the tropes and none of the thought (Vin Diesel is… Multiversal Family Trauma Man, this fall…).

Not a thrilling prospect.

But if you’re looking for a film that scratches the same itch that EEAAO does, I offer for you consideration Polite Society, written and directed by Nina Manzoor.

This film proves single-handedly that the art of the movie poster is not yet dead.

The film follows British-Pakistani sisters Ria and Lena Khan. Ria, still in whatever British people currently call high school (“Up and Sups,” probably, or something just as ridiculous), is rabidly chasing her dream of becoming a professional stunt woman, often to painful failure. Lena has dropped out of art school and wearing her hair in bangs. Tough times for the Khan women.

In an attempt to help, their mother Fatima introduces Lena to ultra-wealthy Salim Shah in hopes of arranging a marriage.

Things rapidly go off the rails from there, with Ria using all of her training to protect her sister’s dreams.

This movie is fast, fun, and full of action. But much like EEAAO, the movie has something to say on the subjects of dreams, the pressure to achieve them, and the boxes that the world is so eager to stuff us in.

I don’t want to spoil anything else, so I’ll leave it here: No matter what Manzoor directs next, I will be in the theater opening weekend, no questions asked. And when mainstream audiences start to fall for her work, I’ll be ahead of the curve.