Ria Khan is not your average Pakistani British high schooler. Played by Priya Kansara, Ria is quick to pick a fight — which she most likely won’t win — and dreams of being a stuntwoman. After school, she records stunt videos with the assistance and cheerleading of her older sister, Lena, played by Ritu Arya (“The Umbrella Academy”). “I am the FURY,” Ria yells into the camera before attempting her latest stunt and failing miserably.
Brought to you by director Nida Manzoor (“We Are Lady Parts”), “Polite Society” is a punch to the face of patriarchy and a swift kick to the gut of misogyny. Manzoor’s directorial film debut pays homage to “Scott Pilgrim” high-octane vibes and Quentin Tarantino’s absurdist body of work, a bit out of this world, but a bloody good laugh.
I talked to Manzoor about the inspiration behind the film, sisterhood, and the film’s commentary on women’s roles.
Showcasing Sisterhood: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Seeing sisters on screen, much less in cinema, is rare. The lack of representation might be due to the difficulty in truthfully portraying sister dynamics without sacrificing one sister for the other’s wholeness. And even though Ria is the star of this show, Manzoor paints a full picture of Lena as well, her dashed hopes of being an artist and how she tries to become the elder daughter that her parents want her to be.
Manzoor herself is a younger sister, and recalls idolizing her older sister as a teenager: “She was the coolest, edgiest person I knew. [The film comes from a place of] seeing how her confidence was being questioned by society [as well as having a] family that wasn’t accepting who she was and her rebellious punk spirit.
“It was exciting for me to explore a sister relationship, which is so unique, and how it can be so cruel, but also so full of love. To center an action movie around these two sisters was honestly everything I wanted to see in cinema: sisters, action, comedy, and…
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