JOYLAND - Mark Reviews Movies

Joyland, Oscilloscope Laboratories

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Review by Mark Dujsik | April 6, 2023

The larger thematic point of Joyland, in which three characters are continuously beaten down by societal and/or familial expectations in Pakistan, is apparent. As a drama, though, co-writer/director Saim Sadiq's movie splits its focus in ways that diminish the impact each of these characters and their respective stories could have.

The bulk of Sadiq and Maggie Briggs' screenplay revolves around a married couple. Haider (Ali Junejo) and Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq) share a home with his older brother Saleem (Sameer Sohail), the brother's wife Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani), and the brothers' elderly and ailing father (played by Salmaan Peerzada). The elder son and his wife have provided the family with three children, all of them girls.

To have an idea of the gender dynamics and bias going on here, Saleem, Nucchi, and the father are almost despondent when the fourth child turns out, not to be a boy as an ultrasound suggested it would be, but another girl. Furthering that, the father is visibly irritated by his younger son's insistence that Mumtaz be the one who works, since her unnamed job is her passion, while Haider stays at home, helping his sister-in-law with the household chores, the cooking, and tending to the kids. The father and, less vocally, Saleem see Haider as "less than a man" for this decision and his perceived subservience to his wife.

The details of the workings and the conflict within the household during the first act are developed and observed with focus by Sadiq. The major issues arise after Haider decides to take a job as a back-up dancer at a local burlesque theater. Since he isn't a good dancer and has to lie to the father he wants to impress about the gig, the whole thing feels contrived to arrive at the next layer of drama. That involves Biba (Alina Khan), a transgender woman who wants to be the star of the show but who is kept down because of prejudice against her identity.

Haider starts spending a lot of time with Biba, helping her market herself and her act. For as much attention as the movie dedicates to Biba's struggles, her existence in this story feels a bit disingenuous, especially since she's basically here for Haider's unspoken but obvious struggles with his sexuality to come to light. Once the movie takes that as far as it can go, Biba is unceremoniously dismissed from the story.

Beyond that relationship and the one-sided nature of the filmmakers' attention, this is a fairly solid depiction of the crushing nature of imposed expectations and norms on people, and despite the questionable outcome of her story, Mumtaz receives equal footing to Haider in her own internal struggle with such external forces. The central problem with Joyland, though, is that the filmmakers seem to be working toward a set series of outcomes, and the degree to which they have to manipulate matters to arrive there is distracting and occasionally dishonest.

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