With a tongue-in-cheek title mischievously concealing the riotous shenanigans stuffed up its sleeve, Polite Society goes out to smash British-Pakistani stereotypes to smithereens. This gloriously sweary, gleefully badass firebrand of a film has all the makings of the next British comedy hit.

Creator of the Rose d’Or winning Channel 4 sitcom We Are Lady Parts, Nida Manzoor makes her feature debut in barnstorming fashion, with a film that she first conceived a decade ago and that premiered at this year’s Sundance. In some ways it feels like the spiritual successor to 2019’s Blinded By The Light, taking Manzoor’s Pakistani-Muslim heritage as its starting point and zeroing in on an alienated protagonist. However, it shakes things up with a broader, more buoyantly comedic tone, showing love for Edgar Wright’s films, as well as martial arts and Bollywood cinema.

Superb newcomer Priya Kansara (who you may recognise from her two-episode role in Bridgerton) plays Ria Khan, a disaffected, kung-fu kicking British-Pakistani teen whose desire to become a stuntwoman is pooh-poohed by her teacher and by her bemused parents (endearing work from stand-up Jeff Mirza and EastEnders’ legend Shobu Kapoor). At school, Ria is flanked by two supportive pals, Clara and Alba (Seraphina Beh and Ella Bruccoleri), as she tangles with a bully (Shona Babayemi’s Kovacs). And at home she has a strong bond with her morose artist sister Lena (Ritu Arya), who is deep in personal crisis having recently dropped out of art school. When Lena is unexpectedly courted by Salim (Akshay Khanna), the much-lusted-after geneticist son of society queen bee Raheela (Nimra Bucha), Ria smells a rat and things get pretty damn crazy from there.

Amalgamating its cultures in winning style, Polite Society’s South and East Asian infusions blend beautifully with its London sass. The film doesn’t forget about the expectations that can go hand in hand with being part of the British-Pakistani community, but strives to move things forward. Ria’s amiable parents only gently disapprove of their daughter’s choices, with the film refusing to get bogged down in that particular battleground.

^{Nida Manzoor} 

Polite Society’s action influences (including Bond, The Matrix and Bruce Lee films) and outlandish plot twists are emphasised enjoyably by a bombastic score and swaggering songs which flank the various duels. Manzoor’s excellent gags are done full justice by a universally on-point set of comic performers, who add value with their facial inflections and attitude; Beh and Bruccoleri as Ria’s besties deserve a particular shout-out, while Bucha is an amusingly OTT villain. While most British comedy stays at least semi-grounded, this tale of sibling loyalty and love proudly takes both feet off the floor as it aims a flying kick at convention.

Polite Society is in cinemas from Friday 28 April.