Review of What Will People Say

"You mean everything to me," Mirza tells his teenage daughter Nisha. Apparently "everything" is far less important than what others might say, for Mirza cares deeply about such opinions. When it is discovered that Nisha sneaks out the window at night, adopts Western ways and is not the compliant and traditional Pakistani daughter she appears, Mirza goes ballistic. Nisha is as stubborn as her father though and manages to outsmart him at first, but there is little sympathy from other relatives. They encourage Mirza's firm hand. Nisha's smart phone is chucked into the snow, freedoms are drastically curtailed and Nisha is threatened with a one-way ticket to Islamabad. Sooner or later father or daughter, or both, must break.

I thought I knew where this film was going, but it went deeper than I thought it would and in different directions. The story is fantastic and thrilling; dead ends become glimmers of light (and the other way around), characters are torn apart by the choices they make and there are intriguing glimpses into the Norse and Pakistani ways of life. The director is a natural. She controls mood like a sorceress; sound is contrasted with silence, close-ups reveal the glimmer of flames in the eyes of characters and scenes flow seamlessly into each other. The acting is not flawless, but thoroughly convincing. The ending scene will stay with me, hopefully forever. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival.