TL;DR – A blast of fun from start to finish, even before the wirework starts flipping people through the air.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Polite Society Review –

During the year, there were those films that I meant to see, but circumstances always got in the way of screening or sessions. For me this year, one of the ones that slipped away was the fascinating Polite Society. Well, it has now dropped on streaming, so I can see if it holds up as well as I hope.

So to set the scene, Ria (Priya Kansara) has had one dream all her life: to become a stuntwoman. She films herself on YouTube, trying to break into her future, and she usually drags her sister, Lena Khan (Ritu Arya), to film. But she can’t master the flying reverse spin kick no matter how much she practices. However, Ria has a crisis of faith when her sister decides to get married to Salim Shah (Akshay Khanna) rather than go back to art school. He is a smarmy wanker, or so Ria feels, but as her life starts to unravel, her future starts looking equally fraught.  

If there is one thing that I would say makes Polite Society stand out from many of its contemporaries, it is the energy. The way the movie is filmed and edited with a vibrancy pulls you along at the speed of light. This is even before we get into the many fight sequences that blur the line between real crack to the face and the wire work you see coming from Hong Kong. The focus on stuntwork makes perfect sense, given that Ria wants to be a stuntwoman. Each vignette has an action moment that is a delight, as the film even helps out by giving each fight a title card.

At the heart of the movie is the relationship between the sisters and how they see their futures. They have such a tight bond that you know the power of a sarcastic Opps and what will follow. There is a push between what you want for your future while the world’s pressures bear down on you. The weight of tradition can be a guide or a mallet used to crush your dreams. Add in systems that just don’t care about you, and when the one person who believes in you starts to settle, you can see the scenario where everything starts to fall apart.

All of the cast are throwing their all into this movie, with the two leads, Priya Kansara & Ritu Arya, being a delight in every moment, with their fight being the film’s highlight. Much of the movie falls in this realm of you wondering what is real or not and what makes that work. Nimra Bucha, as Raheela Shah, perfectly walks that line between just being a possessive potential mother-in-law or being an outright villain. Also, I have mad respect for Seraphina Beh and Ella Bruccoleri, who play Ria’s friends for having some of the best banter I have seen this year.

In the end, do we recommend Polite Society? Absolutely. What Polite Society captures is the essence of fun. I had a blast from start to finish, and I am glad I was able to catch it before the end of the year. If you liked Polite Society, we would recommend Ready or Not to you.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Polite Society?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Polite Society
Directed by – Nida Manzoor
Written by – Nida Manzoor
Music by – Tom Howe & Shez Manzoor
Cinematography by – Ashley Connor
Edited by – Robbie Morrison
Production/Distribution Companies – Working Title Films, Parkville Pictures, Focus Features & Universal Pictures.
Starring – Priya Kansara, Ritu Arya, Renu Brindle, Rekha John-Cheriyan, Seraphina Beh, Ella Bruccoleri, Sally Ann, Jenny Funnell, Shona Babayemi, Shobu Kapoor, Nimra Bucha, Sophie Aisling, Su McLaughlin & Eunice Huthart
Rating – Australia: M; Canada: PG; Germany: 16; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 12A; United States: PG-13