Hala (Apple TV+); One hour 34 minutes: Geraldine Viswanathan, Jack Kilmer, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi, Anna Chlumsky, Azad Khan, Charin Alvarez, Sam Straley, Jimmy Chung; Director-Writer Minhal Baig; US; 2019.
By Neeraj Nanda
MELBOURNE, 3 October 2020: 17-year-old Pakistani-American teenager Hala struggles between her family’s cultural desires as she grapples with the reality of American teen life. A cross story experienced by any immigrant family is what the movie is about. Hala (Geraldine Viswanathan) holds a firm ground amidst the turmoil of cultural compulsions laced with issues her parents themselves face. Mother (Purbi Joshi) and hubby (Azad Khan) are conservative but a poetry-loving teen daughter’s sudden entry into maturity followed by predictable incidents shatters them.
Hala’s American friend with expressions of sexuality looks natural. A Muslim teen is no different from a teen of another faith drowning in America’s cultural potpourri. Sparks of emotion fly one day when she comes home very late. Hala’s character is violated. Parents separate. Hala moves on to college.
Acting is fine and so is direction. Urdu dialogues will be handy for South Asian viewers.
This movie is simple, realistic, and does not say much. No one can live in isolation and if you don’t you will not be the same as you were. That’s it.
I give this movie 2 and a half stars out of 5.
