In a agriculturally-minded community, the humanity is very both above and below the surface in Shamin Sarif‘s new rural drama POLARIZED.
In the Canadian agricultural town of Stonewall, the family of local girl Lisa (Holly Deveaux) are struggling to deal with the recent foreclosure of their local farm. To make ends meet, she does a job at the Palestinian immigrant-run Agritech where a run-in with the ambitious manager Dalia (Maxine Denis) over a safety incident involving a colleague causes her to lose her job.
Things aren’t exactly going well all around in her personal life with her father diagnosed with cancer and Lisa grovels her way back into Dalia’s good books, who is pleased she has atoned for her sins. Things improve to the point that Lisa, an aspiring songwriter, asks if she can use the work canteen to practice her songs. At the local country fair, Lisa showcases her talents where Dalia takes more than a interested ear in her through a small kiss.
However, Dalia is due to be married to Omar to preserve her Palestinian families honour and legacy. Complications arise when her father suggests that Lisa go off to a business meeting with Dalia where things start to take on more emotional poignancy.
Stonewall is a small town prompting big conflicts, which also manifest themselves in one form through a xenophobic police officer whose tab seems to have run out at a local Palestine deli….
POLARIZED is a film that attempts to reflect very much the traditions of cross-cultural and cross-decade feelings and thoughts. A film that tries to balance business, family and emotional needs with some valid thoughts about the morality of true love when the individuals and their families are affected.
Deveaux and Denis provide expressive chemistry in a film that offers context to the emotional conflicts. Good cinematography and a great soundtrack help add some involving and touching attributes, which is reminiscent of British rom-com IMAGINE ME AND YOU with Piper Perabo and Lena Headey.
POLARIZED won Best Drama Feature at the Los Angeles International Film Festival 2023.
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