We’ve seen lots of films about gender politics.
Regardless of country, gender roles act as the guiding force for many film narratives. While they can inform character dynamics or conflicts, it’s always important to still hold your characters accountable. You can’t write off a character’s actions or problems to responding to gender roles. Gender roles may inform actions, but not excuse them. Director Saim Sadiq understood that when making Joyland, my next film out of New Directors/New Films, an excellent film with some of the most relatable and complex characters I’ve seen all year.
The film follows Haider (Ali Junejo) who at the behest of his overbearing father, gets a job at an erotic nightclub as a backup dancer for trans performer, Biba (Alina Khan). Saim Sadiq excellently highlights the oppressive gender norms of Pakistani society, as both Haider and his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq) are clearly pressured into playing roles they don’t want to. They’re at their happiest with Haider as a homemaker, and Mumtaz working as a makeup artist. While we’ve seen similar stories in the past, about oppressive societal gender norms or overbearing parents, Joyland makes the smart decision to still hold Haider accountable for his actions.
The strength of Joyland is in the detailed writing. While the gender politics inform many of Haider’s questionable actions, especially as he discovers how much he enjoys being a backup dancer, they don’t excuse his flaws. Haider’s passiveness at first comes off understandable, even empathetic in comparison to his financially successful brother and oppressive father. But Sadiq highlights how Haider’s insecurity and lack of assertiveness leads him to bad choices, which unintentionally harm the people around him. Many of Haider’s issues appear preventable, and his inability to get out of his own head and muster the courage to role with a bad situation or stand up for himself, cause most of the damage. I appreciate that Sadiq addresses the issues with the cultural politics while simultaneously holding his characters’ flaws accountable.
Joyland’s strong story is matched by its compelling actors. Ali Junejo delivers an engaging performance as Haider. He’s likable, charming, and deeply relatable in both his anxieties and flaws. Junejo is matched by Alina Khan’s charismatic performance as Biba, exuding tremendous power in a performance that feels experienced and lived in. Rasti Farooq’s performance is a compelling mix of lively and heartbreaking. When Farooq depicts feeling trapped and hopeless, she dispels little glimpses of life, where you can see the flickers of confidence and humanity being beaten down by forces beyond her control. All the characters feel real and are performed as such.
Joyland is a must watch with empathetic characters and a story that balances solid analysis of gender politics without writing-out character flaws. It’s simultaneously fun and moving, presenting a seemingly familiar element of Pakistani society through unique lenses. Joyland whisps and weaves through its conflicts effortlessly, and by the end, I was transfixed. I loved this film, give it a watch.
Joyland will be released theatrically on April 7th through Oscilloscope Laboratories
