The film "Polite Society" just released on Prime Video is an action-comedy that throws jabs at several genres for a mishmash of scenarios that strikes with force on some fronts and fails miserably to connect on others. The film is written and directed by Nina Manor, ("Doctor Who" and "We are Lady Parts"). The plot spins around an Indian-British couple and their two lovely daughters. Lena (Ritu Arya, "Umbrella Academy") is a high school student with aspirations of becoming a stunt woman and her older sister, played by Priya Kansara, recently dropped out of art school. Lena, is working hard to fulfill her career dream and even harder at coercing her sister to pursue her plan to become an artist. The first half-hour of the film is the most enjoyable as Rena literally drags her sister into sparring with her. Lena also tries to enlighten her traditional and social-status seeking parents of how things really stand. Rena takes on the high school bully in a masterful martial-arts scene that is a big crowd pleasure. The martial-arts fight scenes, social satire and earnest performances by Arya and Kansara are first rate but not worth the long detention of staying for the rest of the belabored film after it takes a low blow to its plot. Lena becomes obsessed with thwarting the impending nuptials. Her sleuthing into the palace where her future brother-in-law lives uncovers a secret lab where nefarious experiments are being conducted on women's wombs. Her sister's future mother-in-law, Raheela (Nimra Bucha) is an evil foil whose on to Lena's attempt to spoil the wedding. Credit Raheela's campy and bewitching performance for making a formidable and humorous nemesis. The scenes in which Raheela's pampering turns to torture, rips new, fertile grounds in villainous comedy. Nevertheless, the sisterly warmth, friendships and powerful performances fail to muster enough strength to maintain its satirical bite throughout the long winded "Polite Society."
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