Hala

R

Released Nov 22, 2019

1h 34m

Drama

Romance

TRAILER

for Hala: Trailer 1

List

86%

37 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

50+ Ratings

Audience Score

Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.

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Critics Consensus

Supported by a powerful central performance by Geraldine Viswanathan, Hala offers an insightful look at a young woman's journey of self-discovery.

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kristine S

It's lovely she is free, but what about the poor teacher?

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

04/04/24

Full Review

Rish P

This movie is an extremely well written domestic drama pulling from the experiences of the South Asian diaspora, specifically a deep understanding of a complex, conflicting, and at times maddening reality of what life is like as a child of a Muslim immigrant where parents projected their inner conflicts upon those closest to them. Each moment makes you want to help Hala find safety and surety where there is none guaranteed. Similar in many ways to how life can be for those that search for belonging within their home.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/06/23

Full Review

Celes D

Well acted. A concise arc of the dimensions of situations and emotions facing a young girl who is about to burst into her adult life, and raised in a patriarchal home. This movie offered a sequence of layers and reveals that helped you feel the realities of one who faces the seemingly impossible challenges of cultural shackles, and the steps she takes to deal with that.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/23

Full Review

isla s

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.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/26/23

Full Review

jona i

Honest, well-crafted, and interesting. It just never seems to fully ascend.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Minhal Baig

Director

Geraldine Viswanathan

Hala

Jack Kilmer

Jesse

Gabriel Luna

Mr. Lawrence

Purbi Joshi

Eram

Azad Khan

Zahid

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Hala: Trailer 1

2:02

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Roxana Hadadi

Pajiba

How Hala allows its characters to navigate that messiness-how the film refuses to align itself with black and white presentations of "good" and "bad"-is intentional and commendable.

Dec 27, 2019

Full Review

Soraya Nadia McDonald

NPR

The film shines with a glorious commitment to the emotional evolution of its female characters, which James Sizemore's score accents with notes of subtle agony.

Dec 11, 2019

Full Review

Brad Newsome

Sydney Morning Herald

Young Australian Geraldine Viswanathan delivers a performance of tremendous poise, prowess and resonance in this affecting new coming-of-age film.

Dec 4, 2019

Full Review

Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

The young lady's crisis is so routine that I no longer care what she does after half an hour. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 5/10

Aug 8, 2021

Full Review

Shikhar Verma

High on Films

With a genuinely moving and understated performance by Geraldine Viswanathan, the film still manages to evoke a certain reaction from the audience, even if it misses its mark quite often.

Rated: 2.5/5

May 10, 2021

Full Review

Bianca Garner

Next Best Picture

Geraldine Viswanathan's central performance shines, and Minhal Baig's script brings a refreshing take on the "coming-of-age" narrative.

Rated: 8/10

May 5, 2021

Full Review

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Synopsis

Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala struggles to balance desire with her family, cultural and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.

Director: Minhal Baig
Screenwriter: Minhal Baig
Distributor: Apple, Greenwich Entertainment
Production Co: Overbrook Entertainment, Endeavor Content, 3 Arts Entertainment
Rating: R (A Scene of Sexuality)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 22, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 8, 2020
Runtime: 1h 34m

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