Polite Society (2023) Movie Review: Bold British Action-Comedy

Doctor, lawyer, scientist — such careers are often presented as the default for ambitious teenagers. For Ria Khan, though, none of those paths fit. Her single-minded ambition is to become a stuntwoman. She trains in karate, studies fight routines on YouTube, and writes to her stunt idol hoping for an internship. When her sister Lena announces an engagement, Ria sees the promising trajectory she imagined for Lena replaced by a traditional future, and her plan to become a professional stunt performer suddenly feels threatened. Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society therefore pivots between high-energy action and a tender coming-of-age story, delivering entertainment that is both thrilling and emotionally grounded.

Priya Kansara is a lively presence as Ria, capturing the character’s restless creativity, fierce loyalty, and occasional vanity. Ritu Arya plays Lena, Ria’s older sister, who abandoned art school and now offers support for Ria’s filmmaking and stunt ambitions while she navigates a new relationship. As Lena drifts toward her fiancé Salim and his mother Raheela, Ria interprets this shift as a loss to be prevented, convinced that Lena is being subsumed by tradition. The family dynamics at the film’s center create a believable emotional core beneath the spectacle.

Stylistically, Polite Society places us squarely within Ria’s perspective. The direction and editing favor exaggerated beats, comic sound design, and heightened visuals that make ordinary conversations feel heightened and cinematic. Whooshing sound effects and sharp musical hits punctuate dialogue, and set pieces are staged with an almost fantasy-like logic. That approach extends to the fight choreography, which often reads like a physical manifestation of Ria’s imagination: fights escalate into inventive, improbable sequences that prioritize fun over strict realism. Doors slam, characters fly through the air, and glass bookcases shatter with surprisingly little consequence — all intentionally stylized choices that maintain the film’s buoyant tone.

The film benefits from this deliberate lack of realism because it never loses sight of its emotional stakes. The flamboyant staging serves as a counterpoint to genuine moments of worry, jealousy, and love. Ria’s campaign to “save” her sister feels rooted in fear of change and abandonment rather than simple melodrama, and her arguments with family members reveal sincere concerns about identity and cultural expectations. While the climactic third act ramps up action, heist-like plotting, and escalating violence, those sequences are grounded by the film’s earlier character work, even if the finale occasionally sacrifices subtlety for spectacle.

On a performance level, the cast is clearly having fun, and that energy translates to the audience. Kansara balances vulnerability with brash enthusiasm, making Ria an engaging and relatable protagonist. Arya brings nuance to Lena, portraying a woman who is both supportive of her sister and curious about a future that includes marriage. Nimra Bucha stands out as Raheela, the potential mother-in-law who is, at times, played with cartoonish menace and a sharp smile; even when Raheela reads like an antagonist, Bucha layers the role with ambiguities that leave you wondering whether she is genuinely controlling or simply protective.

Polite Society is hard to categorize neatly because it deliberately blends genres: it’s a coming-of-age tale, an action comedy, a caper, and a domestic drama about a Pakistani family negotiating modern desires and traditional expectations. That hybrid quality makes for an often exhilarating film, though its relentless kinetic energy can be tiring by the end. Still, the movie’s inventive staging, sharp comic instincts, and emotional honesty make it an enjoyable and distinctive watch. For viewers seeking a bold, female-led story that combines stunts, humor, and heart, Polite Society is a memorable example of contemporary genre-mixing and storytelling done with confidence.