‘Mustache’ Review: A Gently Humorous Comedy Set in Silicon Valley’s Pakistani-American Community

After the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Financial institution final week, it’s maybe value noting that with the failure of tech-sector lenders and startups alike, a complete constellation of related industries suffers as properly. The ache trickles down all through the neighborhood, impacting the likes of the Pakistani-American small enterprise proprietor and his household on the middle of Imran J. Khan’s 90s-set characteristic Mustache.

Though such a state of affairs won’t seem like solely amusing, Khan finds the humor in hardship when his 13-year-old Muslim protagonist is compelled to readjust his life after his mother and father make a troublesome choice about his training. Whereas not a typical teen comedy, Mustache approaches the style from a perspective that’s gently humorous and refreshingly intelligent, even when it’s fairly a bit tamer than mainstream fare.

Comfortably coasting by means of eighth grade at his personal San Jose Muslim faculty, Ilyas (Atharva Verma) has a a lot greater concern than the standard teenage preoccupations with friends, mother and father and events: his wispy, darkish mustache. It’s been rising ever since he was ten and though he hasn’t absolutely hit puberty but, it’s getting more and more problematic, prompting a way of “profound self-loathing,” as he relatively dramatically describes his degree of discomfort. In line with Islamic customized although, it’s forbidden for him to shave it off and his mother and father aren’t in any respect sympathetic about his scenario, so he’s caught.

Issues go from uncomfortable to insupportable when faculty directors unfairly accuse Ilyas of beginning a battle with a classmate in response to relentless teasing about his facial hair. When the varsity withdraws his scholarship as punishment, his mother and father Asiya (Meesha Shafi) and Hameed (Rizwan Manji), unable to afford full tuition as his dad’s enterprise teeters within the run-up to the dotcom crash, determine to ship him to public highschool as an alternative, a lot to Ilyas’ dismay.

Nervous that he’ll grow to be a “unhealthy Muslim” from publicity to his public faculty’s many corrupt influences, Ilyas develops a plan to power his mother and father to reverse their choice by indulging in mildly reprehensible habits with the steering of his new greatest pal Arun (Krishna Manivannan). When his tentative forays into distinctly non-halal quick meals and rap music fail to sufficiently scandalize his people, Ilyas hits on the thought of faking a relationship with cute classmate Liz Park (Melody Cao), absolutely satisfied that they received’t overlook a forbidden girlfriend.

Recognizing his limitations, he recruits an precise woman to advise him on technique: whipsmart Yasmeen (Ayana Manji) from his Muslim faculty, who solely agrees as a result of she secretly harbors a crush. In an effort to additional his plan, Ilyas hesitantly joins the highschool appearing class taught by drama instructor Miss Martin (Alicia Silverstone) so he can preserve nearer tabs on Liz. Impressed by his performances at school, she quickly recruits him to hang around with the opposite theater children, and earlier than lengthy Ilyas realizes he’s fallen for his personal ruse: Now he actually does want Liz may very well be his girlfriend, however he has no concept easy methods to proceed.

Khan gives a transparent set of problems for Ilyas to navigate, together with a posh array of non secular necessities and prohibitions that generate a lot of the movie’s humor. Nonetheless, as his choices start to resemble the hypocrisy of the adults who’re quickly dropping his respect, Ilyas is confronted with a call to both imitate their habits or reject it.

Verma absolutely inhabits Ilyas’ nearly unrelenting anxiousness, exemplified by twitchy physique language and a shifting gaze within the presence of authority figures and members of the alternative intercourse. As his mother and father, Shafi and Manji credibly present the thought of steering {that a} wayward teen typically requires, whereas Silverstone fulfills a largely useful function that might have been significantly expanded.

A faith-themed comedy could be a tough proposition, even when the tone is predominantly respectful, however Khan strikes a satisfying stability between satire and deference that’s pleasing with out excessively pushing boundaries. And that might show an efficient template for different filmmakers searching for to discover equally complicated cultural settings with sensitivity and humor.