Polite Society

Focus Features | Release Date: April 28, 2023

6.3	USER SCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 27 Ratings

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jbrimleyApr 30, 2023

Well written, well executed, and well above most of the other offerings in the theater. A great blend of comedy and action with a fun soundtrack. I loved it!

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hnestlyontheslyMay 22, 2023

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nida Manzoor’s Police Society is my current candidate for best film of the year, because it’s beautiful to look at, the fight scenes are fire, and the story is fresh and original. Without saying too much about the plot, because this is one I’m not interested in spoiling, so much as gifting to you, Ria is a young Pakistani girl in England with an overactive imagination–think Scott Pilgrim or The Mitchells vs the Machines but with kung fu, trying to swim her way culturally upstream to land her dream job as a stunt woman, while her older sister Lena has returned home after suffering some setbacks in art school. Lena starts dating a guy and shenanigans are afoot. Mazoor is the writer and director of this movie with few credits to her name before this. Her direction feels effervescent and thrilling like Boots Riley or Bo Burnham trying their hand at full creative control.

Lena, played by Ritu Arya who’s credits are long including notably her stint in the Umbrella Academy, is perfectly chameleon, at times morose and borderline manic, then bubbly and lovestruck. Her sister, played by the wonderful Priya Kansara, is a pure shot of sass, anxious and cocky all at once. Her dance sequence is funny and moves the plot along which is just awesome. I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of chloroform in movies lately and I’m wondering if that’s going to be the unlikely theme of the year? Nimra Bucha, villain of the Ms Marvel series, which bears some wonderful sibling energy to this project, is having perfectly venomous. Ella Bruccoleri, who plays one of the local and spunky friends, is a bridge to another lovely and unbelievably funny anti-Marvel superhero comedy called Extraordinary, and her co-star Seraphina Beh won’t be far behind.

All three loyal readers of this blog know that I am a steadfast and loyal fan of long, choreographed fight scenes, especially when those fight scenes involve school-aged girls (see Sucker Punch and Assassination Nation, am I missing any?). The fights here are magical realist in nature and played for comedy, but they’re thrilling to watch. There are fight moves I cannot stop thinking about, even now a week after I sat down to see this movie next to Friend and Friend’s NEW FIANCE WHO CAME TO THE MOVIE WITH HER ENGAGEMENT RING ON AS A TEST AND I DIDN’T NOTICE. Someone actually told me later that they were surprised that I didn’t notice because I “seemed like the sort of person who would check,” as if that’s a type, but also as if that would be my specific type, and I’m here to say that under no circumstances am I going to notice what you’re wearing on your fingers with the exception that if you are wearing more than two rings I am going to be instantly anxious about spending a lot of time with you until I get what the underlying psychology is behind that.

Where was I? Polite Society. The movie finds ways to jump the shark in the third act, which I deem entirely appropriate. The soundtrack for this movie, pop songs sung in Arabic, fits again with the Adil el Arbi and Bilall Fallah (Ms Marvel) sonic aesthetic. There is so much going on with multi-racial, inter-generational immigrant stories without really having to have heart to hearts of any sort to drag the movie back to earth, which is impressive in its own right. I cannot speak more highly about the chaos energy of this story, the off-the-wall, gonzo nature of Manzoor’s dialogue or the kinetic, no-holds-barred action sequences. This movie is what Edgar Wright wishes he could do in his most vulnerable moments. This movie is what we’re going to be talking about in six months as a “sleeper hit,” which is actually just a hit.… Expand

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RaygirlApr 29, 2023

Cute coming of age movie, lots of whimsical (and real) fight scenes. If you liked Everything Everywhere, this could be it's baby sister (although nowhere near as complicated).

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alanpotter17Sep 12, 2023

O melhor do filme é a edição ágil, que mostra que é um filme típico da geração tik tok, inclusive a protagonista é blogueirinha.
Tem o discurso do empoderamento feminino, da quebra às tradições, e toda aquela cartilha moderna que bem sabemos.O melhor do filme é a edição ágil, que mostra que é um filme típico da geração tik tok, inclusive a protagonista é blogueirinha.
Tem o discurso do empoderamento feminino, da quebra às tradições, e toda aquela cartilha moderna que bem sabemos. Talvez o grande problema seja fazer isso de forma não delicada, com personagens caricatos, com situações esdrúxulas ( o que foi aquela invasão ao banheiro masculino? alumas cenas vergonha alheia), e ainda por fazer uso de extremos opostos ao discurso que defende, como a tentativa de inferiorizar o masculino pelo falocentrismo: "Eu tenho um ventre magnífico, mas o seu pinto é abaixo da média".
Ao tentar salvar a irmã de um casamento duvidoso, sabemos que o roteiro não está indo contra somente aos indivíduos supostamente mal caráter, mas à instituição casamento em si. Queria deixar claro que eu mesmo tenho minhas críticas às instituições, e não é esse o ponto. A questão não é o que, mas o como. Se você se deixar levar pela plasticidade de tudo, torna-se divertido. Veja a cena de luta com uma amiga da escola, é tudo tão performático, mas ali soou divertido. No casamento, soou genérico, dá para entreter sim, mas nada do que uma comédia pastelão na sessão da tarde já não tenha feito antes.
Ainda assim, repito, a edição dá um show. Muita coisa acontece, mas os cortes são bons o suficiente para ligar cada situação ao todo, e as horas são muito bem aproveitadas, bem como há espaço para uma série de personagens interessantes: as amigas da escola, a mãe do noivo, os pais das meninas, enfim, é um elenco agradável de ver, e conta com uma produção que deixa o filme bem polido e rico visualmente, e sem soar sujo demais.
Vale a pena para uma sessão despretensiosa, basta deixar de lado o discurso mais afoito e acima do tom, meio maniqueísta até, e se divertir com as situações e com a crítica (?) social aos modelos tradicionais a que o filme combate, por mais que a "instituição" redes sociais e sucesso pelas mídias sociais não seja tocada aqui, e vista de forma acrítica, o que certamente vai agradar a geração tik tok que assistir a isso.… Expand

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SayreTXAug 27, 2023

A fun fantasy that blends Pakistani culture, generational marriage pressure, martial arts and over-the-top scheming. This film should appeal to any riot grrl who wants to blaze her own spin-kicking trail in life. The actors are well cast andA fun fantasy that blends Pakistani culture, generational marriage pressure, martial arts and over-the-top scheming. This film should appeal to any riot grrl who wants to blaze her own spin-kicking trail in life. The actors are well cast and the production is well polished.… Expand

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