What Will People Say

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What Will People Say

2018

1h 46m

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

78%

Tomatometer

41 Reviews

77%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Sixteen-year-old Nisha lives a double life. When out with her friends, she's a regular Norwegian teenager. At home with her family, she is the perfect Pakistani daughter. When her father catches her alone with her boyfriend, Nisha's two worlds brutally collide. To set an example and escape the judgment of their peers, Nisha's parents send her to live with her extended family in a small town in Pakistan. There, Nisha must adapt to a rigid culture that denies her the freedoms she once enjoyed.

Critics Consensus

What Will People Say? argues that institutional sexism starts at home -- and the results can be as powerful as they are difficult to watch.

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Peter Rainer

Christian Science Monitor

A real-life terror trip but with human ghouls and goblins.

Rated: A-

Aug 10, 2018

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Justin Chang

Los Angeles Times

The movie becomes something more than just another tale of cross-cultural, cross-generational misunderstanding: a harrowing drama of emotional abuse.

Aug 2, 2018

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April Wolfe

Village Voice

The quiet psychological terror and the simple, blunt manner in which it was shown stole my breath.

Jul 14, 2018

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Gisela Savdie

El Heraldo

There's no way out for these immigrant women, even after living in a western society [Full Review in Spanish]

Sep 19, 2020

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Jorge Ignacio Castillo

The Canadian Crew

Regardless of the number of setbacks Nisha must face, What Will People Say never feels like misery porn. In fact, it's gripping.

Rated: 4/5

Jan 28, 2020

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Catherine Capellaro

Isthmus (Madison, WI)

What Will People Say provides surprising moments of tenderness amid heart-pounding drama.

Nov 22, 2019

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Rony K

Made be depressed for a bit but highly recommend it. I feel like the ending should've been more clear like there's no guarantee Nisha didn't come back home the next day.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/25

Full Review

Zain H

The movie is slow and really poorly made the dialogs are horrible. Now i understand that Pakistan is a conservative nation and there should be a way to show that but it should also show respect to the culture, language and way of life there which in this movie is non existent. Every Pakistani in this movie is shown as clingy dirty and closed minded. I keep remembering the scene where they are eating and the director for some reason chooses to show that they eat with their hands which i found highly puzzling as to why is the director trying to portray something that is very normal as being dirty or backwards. The actors have done a fine job with what little was required of them. I just feel the movie tried way to hard to show Pakistan as being a horrible place and focused less on the struggles of the protagonist. I really think this was lazy and not researched hence my rating.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

06/28/24

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nefasto r

Slow and not very coherent. The more terrible things happen to the protagonist, the less I cared, so something in the formula definitely did not work for me.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Chillingly accurate about growing up in a conservative brown family. Ending felt too open-ended, but the performances and story were great!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I had the feeling that something was missing. Perhaps the story needed more time to unfold properly.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Audience Member

Great sensitive movie about women lack of rights in Pakistan, and carry over to migrated countries.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

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Iram Haq

Director

Maria Mozhdah

Nisha

Adil Hussain

Mirza

Ekavali Khanna

Mother Najma

Rohit Saraf

Amir

Ali Arfan

Asif

I Am Yours

100%

52%

I Am Yours

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Gritt

100%

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Gritt

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Disco

67%

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Disco

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3 Faces

98%

69%

3 Faces

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What Will People Say: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Nisha lives a double life. When out with her friends, she's a regular Norwegian teenager. At home with her family, she is the perfect Pakistani daughter. When her father catches her alone with her boyfriend, Nisha's two worlds brutally collide. To set an example and escape the judgment of their peers, Nisha's parents send her to live with her extended family in a small town in Pakistan. There, Nisha must adapt to a rigid culture that denies her the freedoms she once enjoyed.

Director: Iram Haq
Producer: Maria Ekerhovd
Screenwriter: Iram Haq
Distributor: Kino Lorber
Production Co: Mer Film, Zentropa International Sweden, Rohfilm Factory GmbH
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Norwegian
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 13, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Oct 9, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $40.6K
Runtime: 1h 46m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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