Movie Review: ‘Polite Society’

‘We Are Lady Parts’ creator Nida Manzoor makes the jump (kick) to theaters with this winning tale of sisters and sinister plans.

Priya Kansara stars as Ria Khan and Ritu Arya as her sister Lena in director Nida Manzoor’s 'Polite Society,' a Focus Features release.

In theaters now, ‘Polite Society’ represents that rare beast –– a movie that manages to both mash-up styles and tones while also holding on to a refreshingly original voice of its own. It’s also funny, sweet, action packed and destined to inspire other filmmakers.

This is the feature debut of Nida Manzoor, who has risen to acclaim as the writer and director of British TV comedy ‘We Are Lady Parts’, which can be seen in the States via Hulu. The story of an all-female Muslim punk band trying to make their way in the bustling music scene of London proved she was someone to watch, and ‘Polite Society’ is the next logical step in her career.

What’s the story of ‘Polite Society?

Manzoor’s latest hero is Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), a bolshy British schoolgirl and martial artist-in-training who dreams of becoming a world-renowned stuntwoman (and has been emailing her favorite working example, Eunice Huthart, about the chance for an internship). Her teachers don’t believe in her, and the school bully (Kovacs, menacingly brought to life by Shona Babayemi) consistently mocks and defeats her.

Yet family issues are also diverting her attention –– Ria’s big sister and best friend Lena (Ritu Arya) is at a crossroads in her life: she’s preparing to give up on her dreams by dropping out of art school. To make matters worse, she meets and falls for attractive geneticist Salim (Akshay Khanna) and is quickly engaged to be married. But with that seeming happy ending comes horror for Ria –– the couple are planning to move to Singapore after the wedding.

Ria’s world is shaken. She believes she must save her sister from the shackles of marriage in the only way she knows how –– by enlisting the help of her friends and attempting to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of freedom and sisterhood. She’ll have to put all of her martial arts training into practice to challenge Salim’s mother Raheela (Nimra Bucha), who she’s convinced has dark designs on Lena.

Yet in doing so, Ria begins to drive a serious wedge between herself and Lena, not to mention her parents Fatima (Shobu Kapoor) and Rafe (Jeff Mirza).

Seraphina Beh stars as Clara, Priya Kansara as Ria Khan and Ella Bruccoleri as Alba in director Nida Manzoor’s 'Polite Society,' a Focus Features release.

(L to R) Seraphina Beh stars as Clara, Priya Kansara as Ria Khan and Ella Bruccoleri as Alba in director Nida Manzoor’s 'Polite Society,' a Focus Features release. Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh / © 2023 Focus Features LLC.

What works about ‘Polite Society’?

Anyone who watched ‘Lady Parts’ knows that Manzoor has a real way with comedy and grounded, funny female characters in particular. She has also cut her teeth directing high profile projects such as ‘Doctor Who’ and ‘Enterprice’.

‘Polite Society’, though feels like an even bigger leap, Manzoor infusing her style and sensibility into a movie that could be a sibling release to the “Cornetto Trilogy” movies of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, just as full of fun needle drops and all the action you can handle, while keeping the characters at the forefront.

Manzoor may not have exactly the same edge as Wright when it comes to visuals, but ‘Society’ is full of fizzy shots and transitions, and she also has a keener ear for writing female characters.

She’s helped by her cast, who all deliver note-perfect performances. Kansara, a veteran of Netflix shows such as ‘Bridgerton’ and ‘The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself’, making her theatrical debut here, wrings every bit of juice from Manzoor’s script, making Ria a sprightly, moody, human character you root for even as her plans start to become ever more desperate.

Arya, meanwhile, is just as good as her sister Lena, the art-school dropout who finds unexpected love. Though she doesn’t have as much screen time as Kansara, the two forge a close on-screen sisterly bond and you completely buy Ria’s confusion and anger at her sister’s altered life.

Manzoor cannily stacks the supporting cast with performers able to imbue small roles with real meaning, including mummy’s boy Salim, the preening, scheming Raheela and the sisters’ mother Fatima (Kapoor appeared in both the ‘Lady Parts’ pilot short and eventual series), initially drawn as meek and people-pleasing, but showing a spine of steel when it counts.

Ria’s friends, meanwhile, Alba (Ella Bruccoleri) and Clara (Seraphina Beh), her ride-or-dies, perfectly compliment her energy while acting (sometimes) as the voices of reason.

Class and race are the subtext here, but the focus really is on repurposing the beats of martial arts and heist movies within a family and teenage story. And Manzoor certainly doesn’t skimp on the action.

While some comedies are content to nod towards stunts, ‘Polite Society’ showcases some impressive set-pieces thanks to Ria’s commitment to her chosen career and her entertainingly shambolic training videos. When she needs to throw down, she has some skills, with the fights putting you in mind of ‘Scott Pilgrim’ (more Wright), yet still all drawn from the characters’ stories. The battles aren’t simply gimmicks, they’re extensions of emotions in just the right way. And around them, there are funny family squabbles, believable sadness and a great portrayal of teenage angst and frustration.

Director Nida Manzoor on the set of her film 'Polite Society,' a Focus Features release.

Are there any issues with ‘Polite Society’?

If there are any complaints to be leveled at the movie, it’s that it sometimes slows down between the more entertaining showdowns, and one or two elements are naturally more trope-heavy than others. Tone sometimes also becomes an issue in that it can’t always switch perfectly between the more grounded family story and the heightened heist/villain plot. Yet the whole remains very much more than the sum of its parts.

On the basis of this, Manzoor deserves to enjoy a healthy career as a filmmaker crafting diverse, interesting and unique work that also offers mainstream sensibility and entertainment value.

This is a sadly also the sort of smaller movie likely to struggle at the box office in a world of superheroes and animated plumbers, so consider this a strong recognition to support something with plenty to say and asses to kick.

‘Polite Society’ receives 8.5. out of 10 stars.