Hala, a Pakistani-American teenager girl in her final year of high school is cautious with her words, but avidly curious with her eyes and ears. Floating in a limbo between two cultures, she's gently pulling back from her Muslim faith and tentatively testing her crush on Jesse, a tousled blond classmate with a sensitive soul. She's a fascinating paradox, at once subdued and adventurous: One moment, she's meekly enduring the affectionate nagging of her anxious mother Eram; the... (Full plot summary below)
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Hala, a Pakistani-American teenager girl in her final year of high school is cautious with her words, but avidly curious with her eyes and ears. Floating in a limbo between two cultures, she's gently pulling back from her Muslim faith and tentatively testing her crush on Jesse, a tousled blond classmate with a sensitive soul. She's a fascinating paradox, at once subdued and adventurous: One moment, she's meekly enduring the affectionate nagging of her anxious mother Eram; the next, she's racing through their Chicago suburb on her skateboard.
Leave your thoughts about Hala.
| The PlaylistJason BaileyHala is keenly observed and quietly powerful, and we’ll be hearing much more from the talented women on either side of its lens. |
| TheWrapYolanda MachadoViswanathan’s resounding, yet quiet performance allows the audience to see Hala for who she is — a smart, funny, intelligent, angsty, confused, and completely normal teenage girl. |
| IndieWireDavid EhrlichThis is a persistently quiet film; always human and alive, but also told with the solemnity of someone who knows they’re sending a ripple through a body of water that’s been still for thousands of years. |
| The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisIf Baig’s writing is at times thin and excessively pointed — like a classroom discussion about what it means to live an authentic life — her grasp of mood is spot on. |
| RogerEbert.comTomris LafflyFollowing the ordinary beats of a teen’s everyday life, writer/director Minhal Baig’s gentle and attentive sophomore feature Hala possesses something inherently extraordinary by just being about a young, female Muslim-American. |
| The Film StageDan MeccaOne sincerely hopes that this is the first of many collaborations between Viswanathan and Baig. Rarely do those behind the camera feel as sync with those in front of the camera as what is conveyed in Hala. |
| Film ThreatNorman GidneyHala is a breath of fresh air that reminds us that as long as we live authentically, with compassion and understanding, the world around us is far easier to deal with. |
| VarietyAmy NicholsonWriter-director Baig has made a coming-of-age charmer that’s adamantly ordinary. Her script has the melody of John Hughes and early Amy Heckerling played with a few minor chords. |
| Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleAlthough its storytelling is at times naggingly staid, its central characterizations teem with complexity and sensitivity, and for that, it’s a modest coming-of-age gem. |
| Rolling StoneDavid FearIt’s a quietly radical take on the art of finding one’s voice, playing out both in front of and behind the lens. |
