'Polite Society' is wildly entertaining

"Polite Society" is a 2023 action-comedy film about a British-Pakistani teenager, Ria Khan (Priya Kansara), who tries to stop her sister Lena (Ritu Arya) from marrying into a family with nefarious intentions, all while pursuing her dream to eventually become a stuntwoman.

Ria initially has a close relationship with Lena, who has recently dropped out of art school and spends most of her time either trying to spark her creativity or helping Ria film stunt videos.

Ria and Lena are both discouraged from pursuing their dreams by their traditional parents, and Ria also receives discouragement from both her teachers and her school bully Kovacs (Shona Babayemi). Likewise, Ria's attempts to make famous stuntwoman Eunice Huthart her mentor go unanswered.

Then Lena is set up with successful geneticist Salim (Akshay Khanna) at an Eid Mubarak celebration hosted by Salim's mother Raheela (Nimra Bucha), and Ria spends the rest of the film trying to break them up because she's worried Lena will give up on her dreams, only to discover there's an even bigger reason to break them up.

I won't ruin the plot twist, but it's wild. As are so many other parts of the movie.

Before the plot twist even occurred, one of the wildest parts of the movie for me was when Ria and Lena got into a massive fight about Ria's attempt to scope out Salim at his gym.

At that point, all Lena knew was that Ria had talked to Salim at the gym and she immediately came in hot with an angry confrontation over it, then when the argument escalated, she started an all-out fist fight with Ria. Wildly entertaining, but also completely uncalled for with the limited amount of information she had at the time.

Regardless, the wild escalations and drama in the movie made for a great time, and the movie actually ended up feeling like a somewhat grounded superhero origin story for Ria. The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes even calls the movie "a fun film that blends Bollywood splendor and British wryness."

I also thoroughly enjoyed Nimra Bucha's performance as antagonist Raheela, especially after previously seeing her in a similarly antagonistic role in "Ms. Marvel" last year. I hope to see her in more roles in the future.

Likewise, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Ria's friends Clara (Seraphina Beh) and Alba (Ella Bruccoleri), who provided amazing comedic and plot-driven support throughout the movie, as well as Ria's parents Fatima (Shobu Kapoor) and Rafe (Jeff Mirza).

"Polite Society" is a strong directorial debut for writer/director Nida Manzoor. I greatly enjoyed every second of the wild ride the movie took me on. I'll definitely be looking out for her other content going forward.

If this review piques your interest in the least, I highly suggest watching "Polite Society" on Peacock or buying or renting the movie wherever else you can find it.