It’s well performed and a periodically fascinating study of Bradford’s seedy underbelly that’s rarely seen on film
50
RogerEbert.comGlenn Kenny
RogerEbert.comGlenn Kenny
Lead actors Byrne and Deen do grounded, stalwart work, and director Mitu Misra occasionally succeeds in making the characters’ milieu’s register with force. But the storytelling is rickety.
40
EmpireNick de Semlyen
EmpireNick de Semlyen
A well-meaning look at the issue of arranged marriage, garnished with some Hollywood star power, but it’s too meandering and sluggish to grip.
Very much to its detriment, Misra’s ambitious, overflowing soap opera of a debut is not content with being the character portrait that Byrne’s inherently interesting Donald deserves.
30
Village VoiceCraig D. Lindsey
Village VoiceCraig D. Lindsey
As much as director–co-writer Mitu Misra wants to show the oppression and repression that still have a stranglehold on Muslim communities in Britain, he does what a lot of first-time filmmakers do their first time out — he overplays his hand.