‘Polite Society’ Celebrates Brown Female Rage
Director Nida Manzoor and actors Ritu Arya and Priya Kansara share how they pulled off the hilarious ‘Get Out’-esque action comedy that dismantles South Asian tropes.
“I am the fury.”
So goes British Pakistani teenager and wannabe stuntwoman Ria Khan’s (Priya Kansara) heart-pumping battle cry each time she prepares to do any of the following: defend her sister to the death, fight a bully in school, and pull off a roundhouse kick with a jump for her YouTube channel. British Pakistani writer-director Nida Manzoor’s debut feature film, Polite Society, follows Ria as she begins to suspect that her older sister Lena (Ritu Arya) has fallen in love with a scammer and is headed into a doomed marriage. And so, Ria attempts to save her with the help of her motley crew of friends.
From the creator of the singular and hilarious sitcom We Are Lady Parts, Polite Society is an action comedy that features martial arts, a high joke-per-minute ratio, and an incredible knack for dismantling South Asian, Pakistani, and Muslim tropes. More than anything, it’s a loud, colorful, and rare portrait of Brown female rage that offers up a young heroic lead who demands to be seen and heard and a film you won’t forget anytime soon.