''Hala'' is a 2019 American

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

written and directed by Minhal Baig. The film was screened in the U.S. Dramatic Competition section at the

2019 Sundance Film Festival The 2019 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 24 to February 3, 2019. The first lineup of competition films was announced on November 28, 2018. Films U.S. Dramatic Competition * '' Before You Know It'' by Hannah Pearl Utt * '' ...

, and was released in a

limited theatrical release __FORCETOC__ Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unit ...

on November 22, 2019, followed by digital streaming on December 6, 2019, by

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced d ...

. The film received generally positive reviews. It is based on a previous short film by Baig made in 2016 by the same name.

Plot

Hala Masood is a seventeen year old

Pakistani American Pakistani Americans ( ur, ) are Americans who originate from Pakistan. The term may also refer to people who also hold a dual Pakistani and U.S. citizenship. Educational attainment level and household income are much higher in the Pakistani-Am ...

Muslim girl struggling with the clash of her family's values versus her desires. Her mom worries about Hala being near boys and skateboarding, while she has a secret crush on a boy in her school named Jesse, who's a non-Muslim (it's expected Hala will have her marriage arranged with a Muslim man). Things gradually come to a head as Hala is drawn toward Jesse, against her family's wishes. In the meantime, she learns her parents' marriage has problems she never knew of before.

Cast

Geraldine Viswanathan Geraldine Viswanathan ( ; born 20 June 1995) is an Australian actress. She gained attention in the role of Kayla in the 2018 film '' Blockers'', for which Refinery29 referred to her as "the film's breakout star". Viswanathan starred in the 2019 ...

as Hala Masood *

Jack Kilmer John Wallace Kilmer (born June 6, 1995) is an American actor. He is known for starring in the 2013 film ''Palo Alto (2013 film), Palo Alto'', for playing Dead (musician), Pelle "Dead" Ohlin in the 2018 Norwegian black metal biopic ''Lords of Chao ...

as Jesse * Purbi Joshi as Eram Masood * Azad Khan as Zahid Masood * Gabriel Luna as Mr. Lawrence *

Anna Chlumsky Anna Maria Chlumsky (; born December 3, 1980) is an American actress. She began acting as a child, and first became known for playing Vada Sultenfuss in the film '' My Girl'' (1991) and its sequel, '' My Girl 2''. Following her early roles, she w ...

as Shannon Taylor * Taylor Blim as Melanie

Production

In November 2017,

, Gabriel Luna, Purbi Joshi and Azad Khan joined the cast of the film, with Minhal Baig directing from a screenplay she wrote.

Release

It had its world premiere at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

on January 26, 2019. Shortly after,

acquired distribution rights to the film. It was released in a

on November 22, 2019, followed by digital streaming on December 6, 2019.

Reception

''Hala'' received positive reviews from film critics. It holds approval rating on review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, based on reviews, with an average of . The critics consensus reads, "Supported by a powerful central performance by Geraldine Viswanathan, ''Hala'' offers an insightful look at a young woman's journey of self-discovery." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film holds a rating of 75 out of 100, based on 11 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In a positive review for ''The AV Club'', Saloni Gajjar praised the film for shining "a new light on the tropes of teenage self-discovery". Writing for ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film) ...

'', Amy Nicholson praised Baig's "naturalistic touch" and Viswanathan's performance, saying it proved "her range and, hopefully, longevity". Criticism was directed at the second half of the film, with Beandra July, writing for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', criticizing the film's "choppy, incoherent finish".

References

External links

* – official site * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hala 2019 films 2010s coming-of-age drama films 2019 drama films 2010s high school films American coming-of-age drama films 2010s teen drama films American high school films American teen drama films 2019 independent films Apple TV+ original films Overbrook Entertainment films Skateboarding films Asian-American drama films 2010s English-language films 2010s American films