Hala

Audience Reviews

View More

Tammy S @RT43199166 Apr 23, 2026 This movie started full of promise, with gentle, evocative pacing, and it was a delight hearing the lead's literary voice developing. But in its attempt to leapfrog all the way to a pat, and very disappointing ending, there was no friction in her life outside the growing tension at home. The whiplash shift in her father was too black and white. Trying to avoid spoilers, but the first quarter promised something special which the rest of the film simply could not deliver, despite the lead's compelling presence. Stringing vignettes together, with gaps in between is not enough for what this could have been, given a bigger budget to match the ambitions. See more June C @RT25842579 Aug 10, 2024 I need to learn to go with my inner choices, ie, don't always listen to Rotten Tomatoes, Sorry. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. The lead actress was brilliant. So don't listen too much to others opinions, go with your intuitions. See more isla s @RT89656869 Sep 3, 2022 This is a film about culture clashes - about a teenage girl of eastern descent having to integrate with her peers in the US without upsetting her conservative parents, who don't agree with her wearing clothes that aren't modest and hanging out with boys etc. I imagine a lot of people can relate to this. The protagonist speaks somewhat poetically about her ability to express herself and trying to find where she stands. I can only imagine the worry she must feel about how her parents will react to certain behaviours and time spent in certain ways - this is definitely a film made sensitively, not laughing at the subject matter at all but treating it well. Its not exactly original, storywise, of course but that's ok. It does pretty well at making the viewer feel emotionally concerned for what happens to the titular character, though it is quite a slow moving film, plot wise - its more of a subtle character driven domestic drama than anything else. Yes, I'd recommend this film. See more Apr 13, 2022 So this movie wasn't bad, but it was pretty white saviour-tier. They had no problem articulating her oppressive home-life and I like that they sort of went into the gendered dynamics underlying the relationship women of colour SAHMs often have with their spouses, but they didn't touch remotely on the experience of being a teenage immigrant amongst other white students (nothing on being bullied for not meeting eurocentric beauty standards, being ignored for standing out etc.). You can't really offer a nuanced take on what life is like for a second generation immigrant kid if the only thing you critique is how she doesn't fit in with her parents' culture and not, simultaneously, how she also doesn't fit in with the North American culture around her. It doesn't really do justice to the experience. Also, not all brown people are muslims - why are there literally no Hollywood movies about other Indians? In any case, there are so few movies about the desi experience in general, that ultimately it was still at least a little refreshing seeing one. See more jona i @RT86387422 Feb 12, 2022 Honest, well-crafted, and interesting. It just never seems to fully ascend. See more Jan 30, 2021 This film is so two-dimensional and superficially plotted that it collapses under any real scrutiny, it's attempt at examination of a complex cultural subject clearly offending and polarising some of it's audience, and while I commend the young lead actor for bringing depth to her role with an expressive performance and proficient use of a skateboard (and I hope and imagine it will be a good launch-vehicle for her), despite her character's somewhat unbelievable choices, I am left bewildered and annoyed that this production that would not look out-of-place at a second-year film student's festival screening has achieved flagship platform positioning on Apple TV+ they must have been desperate for diverse content, fair enough, but I do not recommend you watch this film as it will probably leave you confused, annoyed and possibly offended! See more Read all reviews

Hala

My Rating

Read More Read Less WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW POST RATING