movie review of hichki

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This 5-Star Hindi Drama on Amazon Prime Will Tug at Your Heartstrings from Start to Finish

Based on the trailer alone, I knew Hichki was going to be something special. Perhaps it was look of joy on Ms. Mathur’s face when she insisted that she was “born to be a teacher”—even as she hiccupped uncontrollably. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I’m a huge sucker for underdog movies (and this Hindi drama definitely fits the bill). Either way, I sensed that this movie would tug at my heartstrings from start to finish, and my prediction was spot-on.

For those who are unfamiliar with the film, Hichki (Hindu for “hiccup”) is a heartwarming tale that speaks to the power of hope and determination in spite of the odds. Based on the true story of Brad Cohen , a teacher and author who has severe Tourette syndrome, the movie centers on Ms. Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji), an aspiring educator who struggles to find a teaching job due to her speech impediment. When she finally lands a job at her alma mater, she’s assigned to teach a group of troublesome, underprivileged students who are treated like outsiders. Will her positive spirit and enthusiasm be enough to turn things around?

Now available on Amazon Prime , the Hindi-language film starts off with Naina going through multiple interviews and facing rejection after rejection, and though this clearly takes an emotional toll, she continues to carry herself with confidence and dignity. Skeptical employers who try to plant doubt in her mind are met with clever comebacks, proving that Naina’s disorder has nothing to do with her intellect or teaching ability. And just like that, I’m already taken by Naina’s character. Not only does she deal with countless job rejections, but there’s also her unsupportive father, who insists that she switch fields for a better-paying career. Still, she persists, going as far as to apply at her alma mater, St. Notker's School, six times before she’s finally given a chance.

Naina’s sheer resilience and optimism is awe-inspiring throughout the film, but it’s not the only aspect that makes this movie so captivating. Hichki also touches on relevant issues like classism and the many effects of poverty on education. For instance, upon arriving at St. Notker’s, Naina takes notice of class divisions among the students, where high-class elites are accepted and groomed as top scholars while poor students, who were only admitted to fulfill a government quota, are largely ignored. And when none of her pupils’ parents show up for a parent-teacher conference, Naina visits their homes and is stunned to see their harsh living conditions in the slums.

But even with its tearjerker scenes and timely commentary about poverty, Hichki maintains a hopeful tone. While the students lash out and attempt to push their teacher away, it’s clear that they want to learn and be treated like their rich peers—and Naina expertly builds on that. It’s impossible to not burst with pride as she instills confidence through her unique teaching methods and helps these students grow.

Simply put, this film is not just a love letter to those who struggle with rejection, but also, a powerful reminder that many of us wouldn’t be where we are today without an inspiring teacher like Ms. Naina Mathur.

Purewow Rating: 5 Out Of 5 Stars

Hichki not only sheds light on the very real effects of poverty on education, but it will also give you a deeper appreciation for the educators in your life.

For a full breakdown of PureWow's entertainment rating system, click here .

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'Hichki' review: An emotionally inspiring film

Film: Hichki Cast: Rani Mukerji, Neeraj Kabi, Supriya Pilgaonkar Director: Sidharth P Malhotra Star Rating: 3/5

Hichki hits the ground running. And then keeps running for a while. Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) is attending an interview for the teacher's job at a school and she must explain Tourette Syndrome to everyone like they are five years old. We get this definition multiple times. In different interviews. Naina defining it to an auditorium full of adults.

We get different reaction shots. She gets the job at a school named after Notker the Stammerer. A school bang in the middle of Mumbai named after a monk from what is modern day Switzerland. But for Hichki, Naina and the subjects Malhotra wants to talk about, it works.

At Notker's, Naina is given the task of managing 9F, the section named after a loaded letter, informing the humourless nature of the person who named it. It was probably Mr Wadia (a prim and wry Neeraj Kabi), the class teacher of 9A, gifted with gifted - economically, socially or by any measure - students. Wadia was never for the Tourette Syndrome-afflicted Naina, and her taking on 9F, made of students from underprivileged backgrounds, amuses him, and he counts down the number of days she'll survive teaching students, who, according to Wadia, don't belong there.

The Right to Education term is thrown around and we meet the kids, more than just education wrapped in their minds. One of the girls might not have brought a lunch box but she has a bag of okra to chop when there is no class. Another boy is never seen without a pair of headphones, and breaks into a rap from stray phrases, clearly modelled on the street music scene of Mumbai. As if to stress on the authenticity, we get a song with rap in Tamil that mentions Dharavi.

The first half of Hichki (based on Brad Cohen’s Front of the Class) is the classic underdog film - there is the inspiration in Naina, someone who has had an experience of othering, as the only person empathetic towards the kids. The kids themselves unwelcoming of Naina, who must win them over gradually. The evil villain in Mr Wadia who is just waiting to see Naina and her proteges fail. An ultimatum of final exams.

The practical jokes the kids pull to drive away Naina are fun and Malhotra makes sure they don't exist in vacuum. They tell her a few things about the kids and it becomes a learning experience for both the parties. There are some nice touches. The school principal, who has to manage Naina and Wadia, concerned but cynical. There's also a fun offhand moment where the staff room pervert is the teacher who is teaching poetry.

Malhotra also has two reflective sequences where the kids and Naina try to enter each other's spaces. When 9F's PTA meeting becomes a colossal failure, Naina flips the idea and visits the spaces occupied by her students. What was supposed to be a chance for the parents to get to know their kids becomes a chance for the teacher to get to know the life of her kids and their parents. As Naina's desensitising process becomes complete, the kids have their own. Their attitude towards her changes and Malhotra chooses to film their realisation and acknowledgement in a posh outdoorsy coffee shop, the kind of space inhabited by Naina. The setting plays up the drama, but it establishes the meeting halfway deal between Naina and her students.

For a film that surrounds itself with disability, social inequality, caste, class and something like Right to Education, Hichki does have a cookie-cutter approach. It deals with most of these issues at a surface level, hoping we'd buy into its good intentions and empathy signalling wisdom. Its characters are lovable and Mukerji comes up with an unfussy performance that goes a long way in keeping Hichki interesting. We throw around the phrase "well calibrated performance" but in the case of Naina Mathur, there might be something literal about that.

Tourette Syndrome isn't a visible disorder that one can understand and develop a method to perform. It is undefinable, and its tics can be intangible, so an actor can bring her own idiosyncrasies to the performance. Rani Mukerji seems to know when to let it play out, when her tics are pronounced and when to say something without an interruption from the tic. Hichki says the right things, shows the right things (there might be a redemption arc that is problematic in the end though) but it could have been more, a lot more.

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Hichki movie review: Rani Mukerji’s well-intentioned film could have been so much more

Hichki is a well intentioned film that will give you ample opportunities to wipe tears, but it doesn’t make a strong comment. here’s our movie review..

Hichki Cast: Rani Mukerji, Neeraj Kabi Director: Siddharth P Malhotra Rating: 2.5/5

There are no bad students, only bad teachers.

We all began dreaming with the help of a teacher. Most of the times they were people and sometimes they were situations. They taught us how to conceal our tears and take defeat in our stride. We became the person we are today because we learnt our lessons. Those who taught us might not be perfect themselves, but they were good enough for us.

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Hichki is about one such person who is determined to give compassion, knowledge and understanding to the world.

Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) suffers from a neurological condition called the Tourette Syndrome since childhood. We are told it’s a speech defect that aggravates whenever she gets nervous. She makes unique sounds, more like mildly suppressed screams. She wants to teach because years ago a teacher stood up for her and she understood the impact she could have if she stepped out into the world and did the same.

After 5 years and 18 unsuccessful attempts, one of Mumbai’s prestigious schools gives her a chance to teach. The teenagers she is supposed to teach are unruly, live in a bad neighbourhood and feel alienated among students from other social strata. Naina, however, is determined to give them a sense of purpose.

Hichki begins well with a focus on Naina’s struggles in life. She is battling a multifaceted war -- within the family and outside it.

Director Siddharth P Malhotra sees a chance to go melodramatic here. He begins exploring the situations to evoke tears. He uses the usual techniques: Heightened background score, people standing and clapping in slow motion and the person of interest drifting alone against a crowd.

The emphasis on drama takes the focus away from the class struggle between slum dwellers and the upper middle class. The anger to be counted as equals has been touched upon but not explored.

To let Rani Mukerji’s underdog teacher shine, evil characters are created without any justification. They sort of cushion Rani’s saint-like teacher. She, in a way, gets bigger than the cause.

Such stories tend to follow the easier route, and Hichki is no exception.

From Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society (1989) to Zhang Yimou’s Not One Less (1999), teachers are expected to take the high moral ground. Hindi films like Sir (Mahesh Bhatt, 1993) and Black (Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2005) too followed a similar path.

Rani Mukerji takes a cue from these films and blends them with a contemporary issue.

To Malhotra’s credit, he has got the formula correct. Hichki is good enough to make you cry multiple times.

Also, the film’s is well paced. At 118-minutes, there are not many dull scenes. Then there is Rani Mukerji, sassy, confident and completely aware of her circumstances. She operates within the boundary and tries her best to not let the film deviate from the central theme.

She has got support from Neeraj Kabi and a bunch of happy-go-lucky adolescents, but the lack of depth in film’s writing mars Hichki’s novelty.

Hichki oscillates between a strong-willed teacher and some kids pushing against the wall. One can be a hero only at the cost of the other. One of them must get an easier win, and the director chooses Rani Mukerji.

It’s well-intentioned and will move you, but it could have been so much more.

Interact with Rohit Vats at Twitter/ @nawabjha

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Hichki movie review: Rani Mukerji's 'To Ma'am With Love' hits the mark, hiccups and all

Hichki offers enough surprises and enough moments of unmanipulative emotional intensity to be a rewarding experience.

Back in 2005, when he released the excellent Iqbal , I remember writer-director Nagesh Kukunoor saying: a few minutes into the film, you will forget that my hero is deaf-mute. Truth be told, it was a while after watching Iqbal that it struck me the leading man was also Muslim sans all the indulgent clichés and compulsory cultural markers associated with Hindi film Muslims until then.

Kukunoor’s conviction and approach to that character come to mind each time I watch a film on a differently-abled person or minority community member, and I find myself asking: does it pass the Kukunoor/ Iqbal Test?

Hichki does.

Director Siddharth P. Malhotra’s new Hindi film is about a teacher who is tasked with bringing an unruly, disinterested class of financially backward students in line. Apart from the children’s background, Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) faces two additional challenges: their elite Mumbai school, St Notker’s, seems resigned to their fate; and Naina has Tourette Syndrome , a disorder characterised by vocal and motor tics, in her case a tendency to make certain loud involuntary sounds and swing her head to the side while touching her hand to her chin, most especially when she is agitated. Her battle then is not just to help the girls and boys of Class 9F overcome their own pessimism and the prejudice they face from some of the richer students and one particular teacher, but also to guide them past the prejudice they direct at her.

Hichki (Hiccup) is based on the book Front of the Class by Brad Cohen and Lisa Wysocky which was made into the 2008 American film of the same name. Frankly, although it will very likely prompt scores of Google searches in the coming days, Hichki is not about Tourette’s — Malhotra’s film is designed to have us looking past Naina’s condition, seeing her as a woman who happens to have Tourette’s and is determined not to allow her students to succumb to their worst fears or insecurities, to recognise their own failings and biases even as they battle the biases others hold against them. Tourette’s is just one of multiple factors steering this screenplay — written by Anckur Chaudhry, Malhotra himself, Ambar Hadap and Ganesh Pandit – that, interestingly for patriarchal Bollywood, has taken a male-centric literary work and adapted it with a woman as the protagonist.

The result is a largely engaging film that, despite the hiccups in its writing journey, manages to hit the mark.

It is, in some senses, a predictable path. We know from the moment Naina Mathur enters that classroom, how the story will turn out: that the kids will resist her, they will next be won over by her sincerity, and they will finally become her allies. Occasionally it feels rather thin too as a consequence, sometimes manipulative and often also very simplistic. This is, after all, a formula that has been repeatedly visited in films since E.R. Braithwaite took up a teacher’s job in his book To Sir, With Love and Sidney Poitier followed suit on screen more than half a century back. The addition of classism within the school and Tourette’s to the situation does, however, alter the dynamics.

In the end then, Hichki offers enough surprises and enough moments of unmanipulative emotional intensity to be a rewarding experience.

One of the film’s biggest strengths is Mukerji, who has been seen in only three features — Aiyyaa , Talaash and Mardaani  — since the box-office success of No One Killed Jessica in 2011. She lifts Hichki every time she is on the scene, bringing empathy and charm to Naina’s character without at any moment soliciting the audience’s pity. Even when the screenplay is passing through its most slender passages, Mukerji elevates it with her presence.

She is surrounded by a bouquet of charismatic supporting actors, not all of whom get the benefit of in-depth characterisation. Most of the students in Naina’s class, for instance, are painted with broad brush strokes and a single defining attribute that do not do justice to the evidently capable actors playing them. Among the ones getting short shrift is Riya Shukla who delivered an electrifying performance in 2016’s Swara Bhasker-starrer Nil Battey Sannata.

The youngster with the benefit of the best-written part is Harsh Mayar playing Aatish, the last rebel standing in 9F. Look closely: that casually good-looking guy is the same fellow who played the little livewire Chhotu in Nila Madhab Panda’s I Am Kalam (2011) for which he won a National Award for Best Child Artist . Age has done nice things to Mayar, looks-wise and acting-wise. There are some rough edges that need smoothening out, such as when he is given a somewhat schmaltzy speech to deliver, but overall he has the ability to hold his own in Mukerji’s company and acting chops worth watching out for.

To learn how not to be pulled down by a spot of speechifying in a screenplay, he just needs to take notes from his co-star, theatre veteran Neeraj Kabi, playing the doggedly classist Mr Wadia, Naina’s bete noir in the St Notker’s staffroom. Even when the man sneeringly describes 9F as “municipality garbage”, Kabi ensures that his character comes across as credible rather than hyperbolic.

People can be mean. People who face nastiness from others can in turn be nasty to those less fortunate than they are. Hichki may not have the heft of Iqbal but it is a valuable reminder, through the vehicle of the Naina-Aatish equation, that intolerance is not justified simply because the person at the receiving end is flawed. It is also, of course, about not giving up on a human being if you spot redeeming qualities beyond their jagged exterior.

The film itself is not without its faults, but its uplifting theme and Mukerji’s understated performance serve as compensation. Besides, it drew tears from me more than once, each time when I was least expecting it. Sweetness and good intentions make for a pleasant combination in Hichki.

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Hichki Movie Review: An Earnest Film That Doesn’t Take Enough Risks

Director: Siddharth P. Malhotra

Cast: Rani Mukerji,  Supriya Pilgaonkar, Neeraj Kabi, Harsh Mayar, Vikrant Soni

A good teacher can change your life. The movies have always understood that. Think of the long tradition of the teacher film –   Taare Zameen Par ,  To Sir, with Love ,  Good Will Hunting ,  Dangerous Minds ,  Dead Poets Society ,  Black . And now we have  Hichki  – about a teacher who suffers from Tourette Syndrome. Director Siddharth P. Malhotra adapts the Hollywood film  Front of the Class , which itself was based a book by Brad Cohen, called Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had .

Teacher films generally follow a set formula, which positions the teacher as a redeemer who unlocks the hidden potential of his or her students.  Hichki  is no different except here, the teacher is also struggling with her own hurdle – a neurological condition, which causes motor tics. In Naina's case, she makes odd noises. Siddharth wisely explains the condition even before the opening titles and then proceeds to have Naina repeat it a few times so no one in the audience is confused.

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This need to underline everything permeates the film. And yet, the first half plays out engagingly. Naina's situation is presented with empathy. Her spirit and determination feel authentic. However, as the conflict moves from Naina and her condition to Naina and her students, the writing becomes more literal and predictable.

Siddharth and his large team of writers create safely within the formula. So Naina is given the difficult task of teaching 14 teenage 'basti ke bacche.' This gang is rowdy but they never cross the line. Nobody does anything truly terrible. Every frame is beautifully lit by DOP Avinash Arun and their hard-scrabble life in the slum is sanitized. The simplistic narrative is propelled by a palatable idealism – Naina who has never let her condition define her now teaches her students to not be defined by their circumstances.

Naina's cheery optimism is pitted against the elitist arrogance of Mr. Wadia, the teacher who handles 9A – a class brimming with model students. The talented Neeraj Kabi is reduced to playing a one-note character who says things like 9F Municipality garbage hai . The other characters are equally sketchy – Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar play Naina's estranged parents.

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Front of the Class is a forgettable, feel-good film but the one thing that does work was the frayed relationship between Brad and his father, who doesn't understand how to deal with his son's difficult condition. Here dad shows up intermittently and without much impact.

The miracle is that despite the uneven writing,  Hichki  manages to move you. There were a few scenes in which I found myself getting teary. I think that's largely because of the sheer force that is Rani Mukerji who is back on screen after four years. I don't know enough about Tourette syndrome to know if her rendition of it is accurate but within the context of this film, her performance is solid and sincere. She is in almost every frame and she stays the course. I also enjoyed the performances of Harsh Mayar and Vikrant Soni who play the most truant children in the class – Atish and Killam.

Hichki is a genuinely earnest film made with heart. But it doesn't take enough risks and consequently doesn't touch a raw nerve in the way that Taare Zameen Par did. But it's always nice to see a talented actress with all guns blazing.

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Hichki Review: Rani Mukerji's Heartfelt Performance Scores Full Marks On The Report Card!

Hichki movie review: here comes a 'feel-good' film with a remarkable performance by rani mukerji. she gives you enough reasons to embrace this 'hichki' with a smile., recommended video.

'There are no bad students, only bad teachers', says Rani Mukerji's Naina Mathur to a fellow teacher at an important juncture in Hichki. A single scene so powerful that leaves you with a lump in your throat! Well, Hichki is made up of several such heart-warming moments which make you laugh and shed a tear. To teach is to touch a life forever and that's what the central protagonist of the film believes in. But, the journey isn't a bed of roses for her; especially when she has her own sets of 'hichkis' to overcome. What comes as a wonderful surprise is that the film doesn't turn into a sob story even in the most dramatic moment and that's such a fresh breather!

Coming to the plot, Hichki begins with Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) giving an interview for the job of a teacher. The panel of interviewers are quite impressed with her multiple degrees. Until, Naina makes a gruntling sound. Eyebrows are raised. She tells them she suffers from Tourette's syndrome, a nervous system disorder marked by involuntary motor tics. Another job application goes down the drain. But not before, our sassy Naina decides to give them a crash course in her disorder.

After numerous rejections, Naina finally lands a job at a Catholic school whose naming founder St Notker had a speech impediment. But a bigger surprise awaits in store for her there! She's entrusted the responsibility of 9F, a classroom of underprivileged rebellious teens who have been written off by the elite crowd. The rest of the plot revolves around how Naina wins over these misfits and gives them wings to fly.

Right from the first frame, Rani Mukerji makes a solid impression. She plays Naina Mathur with great conviction and makes sure you don't take your eyes off her even for a single second.

She's the emotional core of Hichki and carries the entire film efficiently on her sturdy shoulders. She's the kind of teacher who imparts physics lessons with boiled eggs making you wish that you had someone unconventional like her during your school days.

Watch out for the scene where she breaks down at a crucial point. It will leave you with goosebumps for sure! Playing a specially-abled character is a daunting task, but she pulls it off with gravitas and so effortlessly!

By the end of the film, all I could say was, 'Rani, we would definitely love to see more of you on screen'.

Neeraj Kabi sails smoothly and has a winning scene towards the climax. A brilliant job by casting director Shanoo Sharma when it comes to bunch of kids. Particularly Harsh Mayar as Aatish who shows a fresh spark. Sachin Pilgaonkar and Supriya Pilgaonkar too put up a good show.

Hichki is Siddharth P Malhotra's directorial debut and the man does a commendable job. Agreed, a sense of predictability creeps in at many points but Siddharth turns the tide in his favour by giving us touching moments which leave a mark.

Speaking about the flaws, the narrative does drag a bit and gets repetitive in some parts. While we know that Rani teaches Maths and Science to the kids, it's unclear about the rest of the subjects.

Another drawback is the film's music which lacks a recall value. A set of good songs could have been a bonus here.

Avinash Arun's cinematography has a breezy vibe and adds a nice hue. Shweta Venkat Mathew's editing is fine.

Hichki comes across as a 'feel-good' film with a remarkable performance by Rani Mukerji. She gives you enough reasons to embrace this 'hichki' with a smile. There's a dialogue in the film which goes like, 'School ke bahar zindagi jab imtihaan leti hai tab subject wise nahi leti'. Hichki, as a whole passes this exam with flying colors!

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Hichki Review: Rani Mukerji is dynamic as the teacher with Tourette syndrome and unruly students

Here is our review of this week's big bollywood release, hichki. the film deserves a watch for rani mukerji's stellar performance, says our review..

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It's rare to find a Hindi film where one's professional journey and only that alone takes precedence. To have one centred on a woman, that too middle-aged, is even rarer. It's one of the best takeaways from Hichki .

Here is a female protagonist who suffers from the neuropsychological disorder Tourette syndrome and her identity is not defined by her love life or her "condition", but by a professional crisis - to make the underprivileged students of her class excel on the academic front with her creative teaching methods.

Hichki is closer to Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar than Taare Zameen Par as it highlights how the socio-economic divide in Mumbai has pervaded into the classrooms. Occupying the Model School-underdog status are 14 students from Class 9F who have constantly been undermined and outcast courtesy where they live and what their parents do. It's hardly a surprise then that they rebel against the system and are constant troublemakers.

Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji), an MSc and BEd degree holder rejected from teaching positions because of Tourette, is hired for the job that no one wants - teach the unruly batch. Can the underdogs of the education system work together to be the topdogs?

An adaptation of American motivational speaker and teacher Brad Cohen's book Front of the Class, Hichki takes the Dead Poets Society-inspired route as it shows Naina's journey from a teacher who is mocked for her vocal tics and harassed with pranks to one that earns her students trust and admiration with her interactive and enjoyable teaching style.

Unlike the seminal English film though, the focus is here predominantly on Naina and how she goes about accomplishing the Herculean task.

Of the 14 students, barely a few get detailed character studies with only Aatish standing out as the angry and bitter young man of the pack. Glimpses into their fraught lives outside of the classroom are limited and a perspective into their personality is absent.

Instead, Hichki turns into more of a contest of science teachers with the ingenious Naina taking on the more conventional Mr Wadia (Neeraj Kabir) who leads the 9A division of toppers. Naina's nemesis Wadia wears his class bias on his posh suits and says lines such as "They don't belong here."

Overcoming discrimination and providing equal opportunity in education and familiarising people with Tourette syndrome are the predominant objectives of Hichki. It does the latter with more sensitivity and success than the former.

Too often, Hickhi turns into an overwrought sermon on overcoming the odds. There are far too many unnecessary plot contrivances to prolong this drama whose quest is more to lionise the teacher than her younger cohort who do all the hard work.

Some scenes may invite the eye roll for their mawkish quotient but even in them you can't take your eyes off Rani Mukerji. In her first film post motherhood, Mukerji reminds why she is one of the naturals in business of pretence. Rarely does Mukerji hit a false note as the driven and happy-go-lucky Naina who refuses to play the victim card and goes about embracing the kids that are not all right. It's her true grit that makes Hichki appealing.

ALSO WATCH: Rani Mukerji on nepotism debate, her second baby and two-decade career

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Hichki Movie Review: Hichki is a simple, meaningful and an inspiring film that stays with you. Rani Mukerji is back in full form and her fans will be immensely impressed.

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Hichki Review 3.0/5 & rating. Watch Hichki official trailer video, listen songs, Movie News updates, Movie Review and checkout public movie reviews soon.

Hichki review {3.0/5} & review rating.

Rani Mukerji is all set to make a smashing comeback after over four years with yet another woman oriented movie: HICHKI produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Siddharth P. Malhotra. Judging by its trailer, the film gives out positive, feel good vibes as it is the story about a teacher who turns her biggest weakness into her strength. Is the movie as good as it looks? Read on our full review to find out.

The story of the HICHKI revolves around Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji) and her earnest struggle to break into her dream career of teaching while battling Tourette’s syndrome. After much trepidation and tussle with management and Principal (Shiv Subramanium) of a fancy public school, she lands a job as a teacher. The glitch here is that she is given a class full of mischief makers as students. The challenge comes in form of these unruly kids and of course, her own physical shortcoming. First, it starts with the students resisting her efforts, pulling pranks on her, absolutely frustrating her to the point of breakdown and later it moves on to a great issue: Elitism prevalent in the education sector. Soon it is Naina’s class of unruly kids from a nearby ghetto vs the privileged students of the St Notker’s High School who ‘legitimately belong’ there. This class of 14 students essentially come from underprivileged background and are a part of school, only because of the compulsion by the Right To Education Act on the school management. It is a classic underdog-take-on-the-world and wins kind of situation. What happens when Naina takes up the challenge teaching this class of rejects is what forms the rest of the story.

HICHKI is inspired by the Hollywood flick FRONT OF THE CLASS based on the book by Brad Cohen, Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had, co-authored by Lisa Wysocky. The premise is old and films like HINDI MEDIUM and TAARE ZAMEEN PAR come to mind when one thinks of HICHKI.

The film works when it comes to the basic storytelling and holds the attention in the first half. While the story is predictable, the screenplay is engaging and keeps you hooked on to its first half. Anckur Chaudhry’s dialogue, story and screenplay starts off on a great note. It is sharp, clever, zingy and funny but slips eventually towards the second half. Director Siddharth Malhotra has co-written the story and screenplay with Chaudhry, Ambar Hadap and Ganesh Pandit. Though their intention was genuine, they try too hard to somehow to drive the message home towards the end.

Director Siddharth P. Malhotra has done an earnest job by creating heart-warming moments between Naina and her students who slowly but surely come around to appreciate their teacher’s efforts. Malhotra takes a simple story but keeps it engaging throughout and that speaks a lot about his talent as a story-teller.

Editor Shweta Venkat Mathew does a decent job, though the second half could’ve been tighter. Avinash Arun handles the cinematography well as he plays with his lens to highlight small quirks about the key character of the film. His camera work makes the film look good overall. Music by Jasleen Royal is average. However background score by Hitesh Sonik is good and goes with the narrative.

Overall, HICHKI is a simple, meaningful and an inspiring film that stays with you. Rani Mukerji is back in full form and her fans will be immensely impressed. At the box office, the film will mainly appeal to the younger audiences.

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'Hichki' movie review: Is it the best comeback for Rani Mukerji?

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Hichki movie review: Tale of an underdog made well

Director : Siddharth P Malhotra

Cast : Rani Mukerji, Neeraj Kabi, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Sachin Pilgaonkar and others

With a predictable screenplay of the film, director Siddharth P Malhotra still manages to narrate an emotional story of a woman who aspires to become a school teacher and is suffering from Tourette syndrome.

Abandoned by the society since her childhood due to the unusual syndrome, Naina Mathur (Rani Mukerji), a middle class girl and daughter of separated parents Supriya and Sachin Pilgaonkar, strives too hard to get a teaching job. Considering her inhibitions, she faces rejection from everyone until she gets a job at St. Notkers High School.

Also read: Salman was told Katrina is Zero dancer; actress reveals how she overcame the Hichki

Little did Naina know about the consequences as she meets her brash and untidy bunch of students from a nearby slum. Thereon starts an interesting journey of good vs evil.

Director Siddharth P Malhotra, who earlier directed We Are Family under Dharma productions, was high on emotions and his second feature Hichki is no less too. The film highlights the education system along with life's anatomy, though he fails to surprise in the plot, especially with the tonality of the screenplay.

Also read: No escaping these monstrous invaders: Sudhir Mishra on Hichki taking March 23 slot

The first half deals with the misery of an underdog and the second half conveniently showcases the winning which is meant to be from the first frame. However, there are several touching moments in the film scattered all over. They make you cry, smile and understand how beautiful life is when one overcomes their own fears.

Rani Mukerji is a show-stealer. She emerges as a true winner in every frame. Hats off to her that she could pull off Naina Mathur effortlessly. If there was any other actress, it would be difficult for her to pull this kind of role amidst a predictable plot. Rani comes with a relatability factor.

Neeraj Kabi shines bright in his grey shade role. Real-life couple Supriya and Sachin Pilgaonkar act in their best capacity. The bunch of students are too good!

Also read: Watch: Shah Rukh Khan tells Rani Mukerji about his Hichki and transformation

Hichki, a story of acceptance in the world of intolerance is a decent watch! It's a Rani's show all over but don't expect an extraordinary plot.

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Hichki Movie Review: Rani Mukerji Does Well In A Predictable And Cliched Film

Hichki review: rani mukherji's strong portrayal of a tourette syndrome sufferer emerges skin deep in a film that never goes beyond the obvious.

Cast:  Rani Mukerji, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Harsh Mayar, Shivkumar Subramaniam, Neeraj Kabi Director: Siddharth P Malhotra Rating: 2 Stars (out of 5) A teacher throws eggs at an unruly class of schoolchildren. The kids are understandably taken aback by this sudden outdoor circusry, but - impressively enough - all of them manage to catch the eggs tossed their way, after which their teacher reveals that these were, in fact, hardboiled. As the kids snack on their trophies, the teacher states that their ability to catch these eggs means they can compute projectile parabolas in their head. According to her, this shows that they have an instinctive knowledge of physics.  

Hichki Movie Review: A still from the film. (Image courtesy: hichkithefilm )

This doesn't quite seem right - clearly our cricket outfielders could do with some tutorials - but Siddharth Malhotra's Hichki doesn't really linger on lessons and learnings. This is a film where education and insight are imparted via quick and convenient montage, where the egg-throwing teacher triggers off Mentos-in-Diet-Coke explosions for her students. She does have her hands rather full, to be fair, as she tries to tame a wild bunch of poor children from slums who are given stepchild treatment in an upright, uptight school. This kind of To Sir With Love/Dead Poets Society/School Of Rock setup would be enough, but Hichki goes for more. Based on the true-life story of Brad Cohen, Rani Mukerji plays a teacher with Tourette's Syndrome, punctuating her life with uncontrollable vocal tics and wrist movements. A fine actress, Mukerji does well to make her condition appear natural and entirely involuntary, but the story pivots too far away from the students' (and teachers') acceptance of the syndrome. Soon it becomes merely an actorly affectation, with hardly any bearing on the storytelling.  

Hichki Movie Review: Rani Mukerji in a still from the film (courtesy YouTube)

The story here is about how poor kids are harnessed and made to believe in themselves, and the answer might lie in the way they are being segregated even at school, all these kids admitted via the Right-To-Education act and being bundled into one scruffy section no teacher wants to handle. Can class divisions be based on a class divide? That is an interesting question, and I was reminded of the way Delhi Public School used to herd its highest-scoring scholars in Section A, but Hichki cares less about the interesting than it does the obvious. Platitudes are mouthed in every other scene - "there are no bad students, only bad teachers," and so forth - while the background score wells up with sadness every time the word Tourette is mentioned. The taming of an impossible class is a subject overused in cinema, but it works primarily because of some ingenuity in the way facts are presented - to the classroom and to the audience. In Dangerous Minds , Michelle Pfeiffer used karate to impress the students and Bob Dylan lyrics to get them into poetry; in Dead Poets Society , Robin Williams made the boys stand on desks to look at the world from a different angle. Mukerji and her eggs don't quite make the same impact. The film's script allows the kids many a Spartacus moment of solidarity, yet this decently acted film never quite escapes predictability.  

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Suffering from Tourette Syndrome, Naina gets assigned a class of defiant students and must ensure that her students realise their potential. Suffering from Tourette Syndrome, Naina gets assigned a class of defiant students and must ensure that her students realise their potential. Suffering from Tourette Syndrome, Naina gets assigned a class of defiant students and must ensure that her students realise their potential.

• Siddharth P Malhotra
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• 123 User reviews
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• 2 wins & 10 nominations

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• Trivia Rani Mukherjee signed the film as she wanted to take up a challenging role. Tourette syndrome was for the first time shown in Hindi films.
• Goofs About 40 minutes into the movie, Naina Mathur draws two long lines, and a third smaller line between them after breaking the tip of the chalk. When she tells the students that they have just 4 months until the final exams, the middle line in the background is clearly larger in size. Then at the next part where she asks students to decide what they have to do, the middle line is smaller again.
• Connections Features Sultan (2016)
• Soundtracks Oye Hichki (uncredited) Performed by Harshdeep Kaur

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• How should be a teacher?
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• Apr 13, 2018
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• March 23, 2018 (United States)
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• St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, India (school shown as St. Notker's School)
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• $2,000,000 (estimated)
• Mar 25, 2018
• $26,055,222

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Hichki Movie Review: The Rani Mukerji Starrer Earns An A

Director: Sidharth P. Malhotra

Cast: Rani Mukerji, Supriya Pilgaonkar, Sachin Pilgaonkar, Neeraj Kabi, Shivkumar Subramaniam, Asif Basra, Ivan Rodrigues, Harsh Mayar and Kunal Shinde

Rating: * * * 1/2

Adapted from a 2008 released English film, "Front of the Class", which is based on Brad Cohen's book "Front of the Class: How Tourette Syndrome Made Me the Teacher I Never Had", director Sidharth P. Malhotra's "Hichki" is a feel good, emotionally packed and inspirational film.

It is the touching story of Naina Mathur, a young girl who would not let Tourette Syndrome keep her from doing what she loved most; teaching. Despite her speech defect, she sets out to become a teacher.

Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder which sets off multiple motor tics which include compulsive throat-clearing, knee knocking, violent muscle twitches and piercing barks. These tics are beyond one's control. While the exact cause that sets off these tics is not known, it is believed to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Rani Mukerji as the plucky Naina Mathur is flawless. She portrays her character with sincerity.

"I can't see you as a teacher," one blunt administrator tells her. To which, she replies, "Before meeting me, did you know about Tourette Syndrome? Well, now that you know, I have educated you."

This simply tells you how persevering she is.

The film reveals how as a student she was expelled from twelve schools before finally being accepted whole heartedly at St. Notker's High School. The same school later accepts her as a teacher, mid-term, not because of her brilliant academic credentials but because of a crisis situation. She is hired to teach a class of underprivileged, reluctant misfits. How she wins everyone's hearts, forms the crux of the tale.

Looking back periodically to show Naina as a child, the film is most powerful in some of those flashback sequences.

How as a child, she convinces herself that Tourette Syndrome is her lifelong companion and that could teach her important lessons about human nature. That bit of disassociation which is crucial helps her cope with otherwise difficult situations. This comes through in her strained relationship with her father and also when she tells her school teacher, Mr. Khan, "Treat me like other students."

The film is packed with dramatic moments that are as truthful as they are inspiring. Every scene resonates with sentiments. With apt metaphors and lingo, the writing is simple and straightforward. And while the film intends on communicating life-affirming values, there are moments in the first half that seem forced.

The second half, despite the painstakingly moralistic notes, touches the right chords. You get so immersed with the characters especially Naina. You feel sorry for her when despite her sincere efforts, her class gets suspended, for no fault of theirs.

What elevates the film is the brilliant performances by the supporting cast. You can relate with every character as each one of them is well-etched. The ones that stand out apart from the gang of students are Sachin and Supriya Pilgaonkar as Naina's estranged parents, Ivan Rodrigues as the School Principal, Neeraj Kabi as Naina's colleague at school who is keen to dismiss Naina's students from the school and of course the character who plays Naina's brother.

The loving relationship between the siblings is well-defined.

With ace production values, the film is well-made. The only sore point is the loud background score that kills the subtlety of the subject.

Overall, "Hichki" remains in your mental space long after you leave the theatre.

Watched Hichki . Who says sensitivity is dead in our cinema . . I thought Rani will never surpass her Black performence but in Hichki she has gone much beyond it . congratulations to director Siddharth Malhotra and producer Adi Chopra for this lovely film . — Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) March 19, 2018

REVIEW: #Hichki is both moving and formulaic but #RaniMukerji powers through it all. https://t.co/IL51tQlVBi — Anupama Chopra (@anupamachopra) March 23, 2018

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Movie review: in ‘the critic,’ ian mckellen’s theater critic takes his job very seriously.

The arts rarely have anything good to say about critics. That they’re not generally the hero of many stories is, at the very least, understandable. More often they’re portrayed as joyless, cruel and a little pathetic; themselves failed artists who live to take down others, or, worse, sycophants in search of a famous friend.

Without getting into any sort of philosophical, or even factual debate about the nature of the kind of person drawn to criticism (besides perhaps a staunch antipathy to either job security or amassing wealth), it is safe to say that the drama critic of “ The Critic ” takes all the worst stereotypes to hysterical heights.

Set in the 1930s in London, Ian McKellen is Jimmy Erskine, a veteran theater critic whose reviews can make or break a play or a performer. He has a monastic devotion to telling the truth, as entertainingly as he can, and knows what he must sacrifice to do so.

“The drama critic is feared and reviled for the judgement he must bring,” McKellen says in an ominous voiceover. “(He) must be cold and perfectly alone.”

When one woman dares to chat him up after a play, offering her take on the material and performances, he swiftly tries to have her removed from the restaurant claiming he must be protected from the general public. When an actress, Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), confronts him about his wildly inconsistent criticisms of her (how can she be both plump and emaciated, she wonders), he refuses to apologize. And he scoffs when the new boss at the newspaper, David Brooke (Mark Strong), implores him to tone it down: “Be kinder,” he says. “More beauty, less beast.”

But what starts as satire spirals into a wildly messy tragedy with contrivance upon contrivance. This is a film that could have listened to its anti-hero’s advice to the flailing actress: Do less. That someone as great as Lesley Manville, as Nina’s mother, gets a mere handful of scenes and is only minimally consequential to it all is telling. It strives to be an intricate spider-web of compelling, intersecting stories, but few characters are fleshed out enough for us to care.

PHOTOS: Movie Review: In ‘The Critic,’ Ian McKellen's theater critic takes his job very seriously

“ The Critic,” handsomely directed by Anand Tucker (“Hilary and Jackie,” “Leap Year”) and written by Patrick Marber (“Closer,” “Notes on a Scandal”), is very loosely based on Anthony Quinn’s novel “Curtain Call,” itself more a murder mystery than this ever allows itself to be. Instead, the film is about the desperate lengths a man will go to when his job and freedom are threatened. Erskine is the kind of gentleman critic whose power and authority have gone unchallenged for so long, he’s become delusional beyond recognition. His words don’t just destroy, though. They’ve also inspired. Even the actress he obliterates time and time again admits as much: She tells him it was his writing that made her fall in love with the theater.

There are some fun ideas here, and good performances. McKellen is having a wonderful time living inside this charismatic monster who you are with until you’re really not. Erskine is also gay; an open secret that becomes a liability with his new boss and the rise of fascist thought around him. But none of it really adds up to anything poignant or enormously entertaining; its darkness is both lopsided and superficial, as most become casualties of Erskine’s aims. Theater critic as tyrant is a juicy premise; “The Critic” just can’t live up to the promise.

“The Critic,” a Greenwich Entertainment release in select theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “some language and sexual content.” Running time: 100 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

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‘My Old Ass’ Review: If She Could Turn Back Time

A buoyant comedy with a big heart follows a teen girl who meets her older self the summer before college.

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By Alissa Wilkinson

That summer before college can be strange, a moment suspended between life stages, and Elliott (Maisy Stella) is right in the thick of it. She’s turning 18 in the tiny picturesque community in Muskoka, Ontario, where her family has farmed cranberries for generations. She has a janky little motorboat, two best friends and a massive crush on the girl behind the counter at the local coffee shop. And she’s looking forward to heading to Toronto in a few short weeks to start the next chapter of her life.

Sounds familiar. You might even relate. But “My Old Ass,” written and directed by Megan Park, does not go in expected coming-of-age directions. It’s as much about reframing middle-aged regrets as it is a story about youth, love and possibility — and thus the emotional heft it wields is two-pronged.

Elliott belongs to a newish and very welcome variety of teen girl movie protagonist. For decades, these characters were mostly siloed into vapid types, the better for us, I guess, to “understand” them: Goths, cheerleaders, ditzes, bookish wallflowers, cool girls, bullies. Elliott, on the other hand, is funny, capable and comfortable in her own skin. She can drive a tractor and steer a boat, and also forgets to show up for her own birthday dinner with her family. She is very thoroughly 18, with as strong a sense of self as you can really have at that age, while also being kind of a jerk at times to her parents and brothers. She loves them. She just finds them kind of annoying, though she’s not above apologizing for her behavior.

Elliott’s characteristics aren’t markers of being a Strong Female Lead so much as just an actual teen girl, the kind you probably know, or maybe were. I found myself thinking of various characters played by stellar young actresses in recent films: Haley Lu Richardson in “The Edge of Seventeen,” Emilia Jones in “Coda,” Lily Collias in “Good One,” Saoirse Ronan in “Lady Bird.”

With this complexity in mind, it makes sense that on Elliott’s 18th birthday, she and her friends Ro (Kerrice Brooks) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler) decide, with age-appropriate recklessness, that it’s time to have a transcendent experience. They obtain psychedelic mushrooms and head to a little wooded island to camp out and experience their trips, whatever they might be like. Elliott is at first disappointed that the shrooms don’t seem to have any effect on her, but then the unimaginable occurs: Her older self suddenly appears at the campfire. (You see now where the film’s title comes from.) Elliott at age 39 (Aubrey Plaza) is a Ph.D. student and, perhaps relatedly, more cynical than she was as a teenager. But she seems delighted to meet her younger self, and offers a load of advice, including warnings to stay away from someone named Chad who might turn up soon. And though the mushrooms wear off, the connection between younger and older self outlasts the drugs’ effect, to both Elliotts’ surprise.

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Review: Mickey Hardaway

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A character study about generational trauma and the weight of expectations, Mickey Hardaway follows the critical decisions of the titular young Black man (Rashad Hunter) struggling to become a successful cartoonist in Los Angeles. Navigating an abusive home life, career struggles, and addiction, Mickey’s story is told through a series of flashbacks during sessions with his newly found therapist, leading to a present-day event with enormous consequences.

It’s certainly not a subtle film, wearing its emotional and psychological trauma on its sleeve. For a debut feature, writer-director Marcellus Cox shows a knack for tackling complex subjects and, with some refinement in technique, could truly have a fully compelling work. At times the performances feel a bit stilted, almost stagelike, with characters presenting their ideas as if they’re speaking directly to the audience instead of having genuine conversations.

The weight of the ideas often overwhelms the execution, but credit is due for presenting the story without sugarcoating the outcomes and for naming root causes for the myriad ways in which people suffering from devastating conditions fail to reach their potential. This isn’t a miraculous tale of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps, but a glimpse of how life’s circumstances can drive us to take the most desperate and destructive of actions. 106 min.

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My Old Ass dodges the usual time-travel movie problems, with good reason

Aubrey Plaza and Maisy Stella star in this coming-of-age comedy

by Petrana Radulovic

The gimmick at the center of Megan Park’s dramedy My Old Ass is grabby: On the night of her 18th birthday, a teenager blows off her family birthday celebration to go do drugs in the woods. There, she encounters an adult version of herself, and promptly proceeds to rag on herself for being so old. (The other version of her is just 39.) Seeing a confident teenager and her older self playfully butt heads over future job prospects and appearances is already funny. But woven through the Oh my God, is this what I’m going to be like when I’m OLD?! back-and-forth is a powerful movie about growing up.

Writer-director Megan Park ( The Fallout ) uses a high-concept plot to drill in on specific emotions and experiences, while dodging genre trappings and specifics about time travel. Skimping on the sci-fi mechanics while leaning into the emotions created by the situation lets her craft My Old Ass into a contemplative coming-of-age story — one that perfectly encapsulates the feeling of that one last carefree adolescent summer before everything changes.

[ Ed. note: This piece contains light setup spoilers for My Old Ass. ]

Maisy Stella (ABC’s musical drama Nashville ) plays Elliott, a confident young woman with big dreams of leaving her family’s cranberry farm behind when she goes to University of Toronto in the fall. While tripping on hallucinogenic mushrooms, she’s visited by an older version of herself (played by Parks and Recreation ’s Aubrey Plaza ), who offers her some advice about this very transitory time in their life. The two manage to keep up a correspondence via cell phone, with older Elliott trying to guide younger Elliott without giving away too much about the future. Her biggest warning: Stay away from Chad (Percy Hynes White), the charming boy who’s working at her family’s farm over the summer.

Throughout the movie, it’s a little ambiguous about whether actual time travel is occurring, or Elliott is just experiencing a side effect of her psychedelic trip. But that blurry line means Park doesn’t have to sweat over paradoxes or otherwise waste time laying out the rules of time travel. To young Elliott, chatting up her 20-years-older self is just a random, weird thing that’s happening, and she’s rolling with the punches. They never really interrogate the larger space-time consequences of the experience, or worry that they might break reality by touching. Which is a good thing, because Park uses the time-travel element as a tool to really hammer home the bittersweetness of growing up.

Young Elliott is confident about her place in the world, and Stella imbues the character with a particular brash brightness. When she starts to question what she’s taken for granted about herself and her family, and what that means for the future, her performance comes with a tangible vulnerability. Meanwhile, Plaza nails the older, more world-weary version of the character — but one who’s never too jaded or cynical. The two of them share some wonderful banter: It’s a testament to their chemistry that a lot of their interaction happens via phone, and yet it never feels stilted or shortchanged.

Older Elliott doesn’t share specific details about the future with her younger self, with good reason: She wants to let younger Elliott experience surprise at everything life has to offer. Her vague words of advice — effectively, slow down and spend more time with her family while she can — could be overused adages. But because they’re so universal, they can also apply to Elliott’s specific situation, like how she feels like she’s too good for her family’s cranberry farm. And the nebulous warning older Elliott delivers about that cute boy also could be a cliché — except that until she meets Chad, Elliott has only been attracted to girls. It’s a refreshing take on a coming-out story, and it makes older Elliott’s warnings even more intriguing, especially as younger Elliott and Chad clearly hit it off.

Beyond the time-travel setup, My Old Ass ’s most immediate hook is the leads and their easy rapport. This movie could have just been a collection of hijinks and jokes about touching your older self’s butt. But Park uses the timey-wimey elements to craft a story about those unheralded last moments, the ones we don’t realize will be watersheds on the way to growing up. Younger Elliott is eager to leave everything behind and move on to her next great adventure, but older Elliott is able to offer some perspective. At the same time, older Elliott gets to savor her bygone youth and tap into the days of being a fearless teenager who could conquer the world. My Old Ass is about growing up — the joy, the pain, and those little moments that resonate with us far longer than we think they will — and Park smartly pulls it off by drawing on Elliott’s perspectives of both the past and the present.

My Old Ass is out in select theaters starting Sept. 13, and everywhere on Sept. 27.

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‘sketch’ review: a tender tony hale anchors an audacious, intensely colorful tween adventure.

A 10-year-old girl's grief manifests as violent drawings come to life in writer-director Seth Worley's Spielbergian debut feature, also starring D'Arcy Carden.

By Michael Rechtshaffen

Michael Rechtshaffen

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If you were to take the wide-eyed wonder of a Steven Spielberg, the impish mischief of a Joe Dante, plus the vibrant visuals of prime Pixar and somehow blitz them together in a Magic Bullet blender, the resulting concoction might well resemble Sketch , an audaciously gonzo first feature by Seth Worley.

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Working with an engaging, spirited cast and a talented visual effects crew, Worley, a VFX aficionado whose prior directorial output has been mainly in the field of corporate-branded videos, turns out a hard-to-resist, all-ages crowd tickler that seems certain to land distribution on the heels of its Toronto International Film Festival bow.

Grappling with navigating daily life in the aftermath of his wife’s death, well-meaning but clueless dad Taylor Wyatt (an ideally cast Tony Hale ) and his kids, Amber (Bianca Belle) and Jack (Kue Lawrence), each have their own, individual way of coping with loss. While the males in the family tend to bottle up their unspoken grief, Amber wears her art on her sleeve, with drawings of monsters exacting gruesome revenge against an annoying classmate. They alarm her teachers but draw the encouragement of a therapist who gives her a composition book to safely act on her anger issues.

Meanwhile, more introverted Jack, who has stumbled upon a mysterious pond in the woods with the proven ability to repair damaged objects, wonders what effects those healing powers might have on his mother’s scattered ashes.

Just when he’s about to act on his theory, Amber’s sketchbook accidentally lands in the murky water, and before you can say Babadook , a torrent of her sick and twisted creations come to life, wreaking havoc on everything in their path. As Amber, Jack and talky Bowman (Kalon Cox), the original object of Amber’s ire, join forces to fend off their adversaries, oblivious Dad, whose realtor sister (D’Arcy Carden) has the listing on their home, is preoccupied just trying to get the place in order.

All that derivation might have been a glaring liability in lesser hands, but Worley has adroitly assembled the mega-mash-up into an engaging whole, with the help of an amiable cast and a crack technical team. Hale tamps down the edges of his more neurotic Arrested Development and Veep personas to play the anchoring role of a perfectly average dad just trying to figure out the right way forward for his traumatized family. He’s the relative calm in a swirling sea of chaos.

That chaos is calibrated for maximum audacity thanks to visual effects supervisor Dan Sturm’s prudently incorporated CGI, which doesn’t skimp on the wow factor and is further amped up by composer Cody Fry’s cacophonous, rambunctious score.

Granted, the film could have stood more restraint in the breathless, pop culture-infused banter between the kids, and Worley is guilty of leaning in a little too heavily on the dead mom trope. But the upshot still packs a buoyant punch.

Grief has never been processed with such eye-popping panache.

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Movie Review— God’s Not Dead: In God We Trust

Get your tickets now for the september 12 release..

[ Editor’s note: This review contains minor spoilers and plot sequences. If you prefer no spoilers at all, please read after seeing the movie. ]

Rev. David Hill (played by David A.R. White), along with other familiar characters and the Newsboys concert cameo, once again appears in the latest installment of the God’s Not Dead movie series. This time, David Hill must grapple with this crucial question: Does God still have a place in politics? 1 In a nutshell, the movie revolves around some of the hotly debated political questions in America today regarding the relevance of Christianity in the public square and the government’s duty to stand on biblical values and preserve our fundamental God -given rights (a repeated theme throughout the series). And this movie boldly takes these topics head-on!

My (Not-So-Professional) Brief Review

No, I am not a professional film critic by any means (not even close!). But overall, I thought the movie was entertaining to watch, with plenty of quotable one-liners and references to biblical principles that I think will resonate with many conservative Christians. It was also a clean, family-friendly movie with no crudeness or vulgarity, which was refreshing (especially given the filthiness of most movies that are produced today). 2

It’s a movie that I personally enjoyed and one that I would generally recommend for others to watch.

Of course, not every Christian will agree with some of the hard-hitting political themes in the movie. In fact, I’m sure that some will be fervently opposed to the core messages promoted throughout the story. And yes, some scenes were a bit overly dramatic (as I expected). Nonetheless, it’s a movie that I personally enjoyed and one that I would generally recommend for others to watch.

I also appreciated that the film presented a high view of God and his Word—the Bible (although I wish there would’ve been more Bible references in the movie!). The story also dramatically portrayed the price for serving Christ and suffering as his disciple—a guarantee for every follower according to Scripture (e.g., Matthew 5:10–12; John 15:18–20; 2 Timothy 3:10–13; 1 Peter 4:12–14).

Similar to the previous movies, the plot was engaging and progressed along at a decent pace; the characters were relatable and dynamic; and the cinematography was well done. Plus, I thought the directors did a fantastic job capturing the intense drama during the debate scenes—where it felt like I was right there in the room with them! There were also some carryovers from the prior films that I was pleased to see. (People who haven’t kept up with this series will miss those details, but it’s not required to follow the plot in this movie.)

As you probably noticed, assuming you’ve at least seen the trailer, the movie’s central plot largely centers around the debate over preserving religious freedom and the controversial “separation of church and state” in America today—which is a phrase I’m sure just about every American has heard in various contexts. There were several major scenes that put an emphasis on this “separation” topic, especially in the opening minutes, with quite a few powerful scenes in the movie that were clearly intended to draw on the audience’s emotions regarding these issues. And for me, these scenes were the most interesting parts of the movie.

Right from the start, it was clear that one of the main threads in the story was lined up around the idea that many Americans (including Christians) have bought into the popular notion that there are two separate/distinct “realms”—the “realm of religion” and the “realm of state”—which cannot be mixed, no matter what. But is that actually true? And what does this supposed “separation” actually mean? (We’ll circle back to this later, stay tuned.)

The movie starts off by showing political news coverage of the Arkansas congressional incumbent, Rick West, unexpectedly dying of a heart attack just six weeks prior to election day. After hearing the tragic news, his opponent, Senator Kane (played by Ray Wise, the main antagonist), has a press conference where he’s asked various questions regarding the restriction of religious freedoms (which he simply ignores). Then, in the following scene, the movie firmly establishes the foundation and setup for this main plotline: Kane celebrates with others on his team, believing he’s essentially won the race, and says: “The passing of Rick West may allow us to catch up with the rest of the modern world, religious superstition has no place in influencing our laws and government, so here’s [raising his glass] to enlightenment, reason, and reshaping our nation’s core.”

The movie then further sets up the plotline by showing old clips of previous presidents Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy giving speeches on fighting for our freedoms and the importance of keeping America as one nation under God, followed by footage of churches closing their doors because of the Covid pandemic, showing protests of secularists holding “Keep American Science Great” signs and “EVOLUTION” being written on a chalkboard, and a kid checking the “Atheist” box on a piece of paper as his professed religion (yes, atheism is a religion!).

Enter, David Hill

Next, the plot takes us to Rick West’s political team, who are now scrambling to find a replacement, and there’s a brief moment showing Kane on the TV screen in the background saying: “We must not let religious superstition determine our laws and culture, it must be by science and reason”—again, further establishing this dichotomy. And after some frantic discussions by West’s team, the scene shows Senator Smith (played by Isaiah Washington) watching a video of David Hill giving a fiery speech in front of a congressional committee (this was the climactic scene from the last movie, God’s Not Dead: We the People ). As Smith is watching the video clip, a few other members of the team watch over his shoulder, and they collectively decide to make David their replacement.

The movie transitions to an emotional scene where David is confronted with bad news concerning a women’s center that he had been actively supporting and discovers that the center was going to have to close. The reason? Because some women at the center were caught having a Bible study! And while he’s sitting in one of the pews of his church, trying to figure out what to do next, Martin Yip (played by Paul Kwo, a regular in the series) tells him about how the Chinese government blamed all the country’s problems on religion. As a result, churches were destroyed, and Christians were severely persecuted in China, implying that the same thing could soon be a reality in America—the erosion of our religious freedom and fundamental rights. 3

“People are afraid to speak the truth these days because truth either loses or gets them canceled.”

At first, David resists the invitation to run for office (as expected), saying he’s just a small-town pastor. But after a series of events, he eventually feels compelled to step out of his comfort zone and enter the political race. One of the crucial scenes that led to the decision is when Smith is encouraging David to join the race and makes this weighty statement: “People are afraid to speak the truth these days because truth either loses or gets them canceled.” (This, of course, accurately sums up our “cancel” culture today!) And the turning point for David is when he learns that Kane hides behind the “separation of church and state” slogan to try to remove God from politics, classrooms, public square, policymaking, etc.—and that if Kane wins, religious groups will not be able to have the women’s center.

From there on, the story generally centers around David’s spiritual struggles not to compromise his faith as he steps into this political arena and in his campaign efforts to beat Kane, who’s utterly determined to push Christianity out of the public square. But over time, David’s campaign eventually becomes a “beacon of hope” for people and further motivates him in his efforts to try to win the election.

The Battle Heats Up

The story really starts to ramp up and shift gears when David gets invited onto the Huckabee show. During the interview, Huckabee quickly points out that there are more ordained ministers in Congress than ever before, and David responds, “Maybe people are looking for more spiritual leadership in Washington.” But then, as expected, Huckabee brings up “separation of church and state,” and David responds by saying that it has been reduced to merely a “catchphrase” and that this line can be “pretty blurry sometimes.” Huckabee says that he’s going to get into some trouble talking like that. After the show, Lottie (played by Samaire Armstrong), who’s just been tasked by Senator Smith to manage David’s campaign, 4 gets angry with David for not “sticking to the script” and wants him to “keep his religious beliefs out of it.”

Later, during a podcast debate, Kane unsurprisingly focuses on the “separation of church and state” and points out that even Christians agree with that notion. David’s response (which I resonated with) was that the founding fathers clearly defined this “separation” not to keep religion out of government—but rather to keep government out of religion. Kane responds, “That’s just your interpretation.” David admits he’s guided by biblical principles and not his political party’s interests and that his beliefs would influence his decision-making (as they rightly should!). Kane then attacks by saying, “This country should be run by scholars and academics, not by people who are afraid of a boogeyman! . . . I find your sense of morality offensive. Who died and left you the arbiter of right and wrong?” David then tries to present the gospel (but realizes his mic has been turned off). As a result, Lottie and David’s team begin panicking over the outcome of the podcast episode, and this aftermath gets played out over the next several scenes.

The Final Hurrah

Later on, Kane’s team set up a more formal debate to “finish it” by really leaning into the “separation of church and state” mantra to quickly end the matter. During the debate, Kane’s main point is that there’s “no place for God in government . . . keep your morality in the church and stay out of Washington,” and David briefly points out that Kane believes not whether government needs God but that government is “ god ” (an accurate assessment!). Kane also brings up the so-called “ Christian Nationalism” issue, and David brilliantly responds by saying that whenever Christians bring up an unpopular policy, they’re hastily labeled as “ Christian Nationalists” with a broad stroke. Kane also claims that “America was never a Christian nation” (which is utterly false), and David immediately corrects him on that. David ends the debate with this mic-drop statement: “While our money says, ‘In God we trust,’ it’s clear where your trust lies: in the pursuit of power and not in the principles that shape this nation” (which surprisingly silences Kane). After the debate, Kane tells David that he won’t stop until his moral high ground crumbles beneath his feet and that his beliefs are on the “wrong side of history.”

Finally, Kane and David have one final debate before the election. Again, Kane plays the “separation of church and state” card while also trying to twist Scripture against David. Kane initially feels like he’s got David “on the ropes,” but suddenly, the debate takes a big turn when Kane begins to quote the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident . . .” And after a brief dramatic pause, David tells him to “finish the sentence” (which Kane refuses to do). So then David finishes it for him: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” He then takes over the debate from that point on and loudly proclaims that our rights don’t come from a piece of paper—they come from God—and the biblical idea that all men are created in his image (which I call the “BOOM” moment!). And he ends the debate with a fiery motivational speech for Christians to get out there and vote ! (Does David win the election? Go watch the movie to find out!)

So Get Out There and Vote!

Speaking of voting, this was another major theme of the movie: motivating Christians to VOTE . For instance, there was a brief post-debate scene when David’s taxi driver told him that he was impressed with his debate performance. David responds, “I hope I earned your vote,” to which the driver responds: “I don’t vote, voting doesn’t really change anything . . . but I will join your church!” Sadly, I’ve noticed that this kind of attitude seems to be rampant in many churches today, where Christians have bought into the lie that their vote “doesn’t matter.” Why? I believe much of the reason is due to Christians buying into the myth of neutrality (more on that in a moment).

This message was also reinforced during a climactic scene where Smith shows up to David’s house to talk about his latest struggles in the race. And at one point in the conversation, Smith points out that a lot of folks have lost hope in the future of the country and says that 40 million Christians don’t vote and another 15 million aren’t even registered . David responds, “Politics is a dirty business,” but Smith tells him, “So is taking out the garbage, but if you turn your back to it, things start to stink” and says that David’s “campaign sets the example for Christian involvement in the civic square.” In other words, if we’re not speaking up for our rights, they will be taken away!

In other words, if we’re not speaking up for our rights, they will be taken away!

Is “Separation of Church and State” for Real?

There was an obvious emphasis on “separation of church and state” (as I’m sure you noticed!) that served as the plumb line throughout the story. In general, I thought the movie did a decent job of exposing this contentious issue in our American culture today (in a dramatic way, of course). That is, the movie exposed the issue that this “catchphrase” (as David put it) has essentially been used by secularists (rebels against God ) to eliminate any trace of Christianity from all public spaces and every branch of government. Or more specifically, what this movie really highlighted is the false dichotomy being promoted today between the “realm of religion/faith” and the “realm of science/reason” (i.e., the supposed “religion vs. science” debate).

By the way, do you know where this “separation” phrase comes from? Many Americans that I’ve met (sadly, including Christians) falsely believe that it originally came from the Constitution—but it doesn’t! It’s not found anywhere in the text or in any of the amendments! This idea actually came from a private letter written in 1802 by President Thomas Jefferson in response to the Danbury Baptist Association in Connecticut—assuring them that the federal government would not interfere with the church. 5 In other words, this “separation” was intended to protect the church from the state, not the state from the church , meaning no national religion is allowed to be established by the government.

Yet, over time, secularists have yanked the Danbury letter out of its context and completely flipped it around 180 o to now mean the exact opposite: to try to protect the state from the church. That means, in reality, this “separation” has become a “separation of God and state”—which would have been a totally foreign concept to the founding fathers (as David Hill rightly points out during the podcast debate with Kane in the movie).

Fast forward to today and this phrase has become so twisted that it’s now being used as a “weapon” to beat down Christians anytime God , church , Bible , Christianity , prayer , creation , or morality are even mentioned along with state/government or anything secular. In other words, secularists have weaponized this “separation” phrase to eradicate Christianity from the public square—and replace it with the religion of secular humanism (an anti- God religion).

The Battle of Two Religions

Consequently, the religion of naturalism (a subset of humanism) has been imposed on the state school system—and the culture at large. And so now we live in a culture with science textbooks, TV programs, and all sorts of media that teach naturalistic beliefs (such as big bang , evolution , “ millions of years ”) as supposed “fact”—based on unproven and unscientific natural processes! That means they didn’t kick out religion—they kicked out Christianity and replaced it with an anti-Christian religion! So it’s not “science vs. religion”—it’s ultimately a battle between two religions: one that is grounded on God ’s infallible Word (Christianity) and the other that tries to elevate man’s fallible opinions to supersede God ’s ultimate authority (humanism).

Sadly, many Christians have bought into this lie, believing that “separation of church and state” means putting aside their Bible and that we should take a “neutral” approach to the public square and the culture at large. Yet, biblically speaking, look at what Jesus said: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). So this means that not only is neutrality a myth , but more importantly, it’s sinful for Christians to try to take this supposed stance of neutrality.

And as a result of Christians buying into this myth of neutrality—one of the fruits of being duped into believing the so-called “separation of church and state”—they fail to boldly and unashamedly stand on the authoritative Word of God as they confront issues plaguing our culture such as abortion , racism , CRT , transgenderism , gay “marriage” —and, of course, the erosion of our religious freedoms . By shrinking back from the public square, Christians have effectively allowed secularists to impose their anti- God religion on not just America but the whole Western culture (US, UK, Canada, Australia).

The “Sleeping Giant” Needs to Wake Up

Let me summarize it this way: it’s time for the “sleeping giant” to wake up! Who’s the sleeping giant? It’s the church! Think about it: secular activists who vocally oppose God’s standards constitute only a small minority in society. And yet they seem to be successful in controlling much of the education institutions, court systems, government, and so on—in trying to normalize what God calls an abomination.

So, if the millions of Christians in the West were to “wake up” and become more assertive in standing up for biblical truth—which includes registering to vote (as Smith pointed out to David in the movie)—we could see a huge positive effect on the culture. 6 It’s time for Christians to start standing firm and without compromise on the truth of God ’s Word against a world that falls for lies—including the so-called “separation of church and state” catchphrase. Let’s pray that the “sleeping giant” wakes up and gets actively involved in the battle raging around us—not trusting in our own wearying strength but in the One who never grows weary.

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28–31)

But of course, before the church can effectively make an impact on today’s world, we first need a new reformation across Christendom today! Just as Martin Luther brought reformation in the sixteenth century, calling the church back to the authority of Scripture, we must raise up the next generation of young people to boldly stand on the absolute authority of the Word of God —and thus be salt and light to this dark decaying world—no matter the cost. Let’s pray that God blesses our efforts!

You May Also Like

• To learn more about the movie and watch the trailer for it, go here: https://godsnotdead.com/about/ .
• Note, this movie is rated PG, so parental guidance is still advised.
• This is a good reminder to praise God that we still (at least for now) have these religious liberties in America and not forget that so many of our brothers and sisters around the world don’t have those privileges.
• Lottie initially resists Smith’s request to manage the campaign in a prior scene, telling him “I’ve left this game for a reason,” since she now has a son to take care of, but eventually, Smith convinces her to do the job, and she leaves the child with someone else. This was the only main criticism I had with the movie—because Smith’s attitude essentially told the audience that motherhood is not the highest priority—which is already a huge problem in our culture today! Granted, that might not have been the movie producer’s intention; regardless, it seemed like Lottie’s storyline was portrayed as one of sacrificing her God-given motherly duties to “help shape our country’s future” (as Smith put it)—a completely unbiblical concept.
• Thomas Jefferson, “Jefferson’s Letter to the Danbury Baptists,” January 1, 1802. Available at https://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danpre.html .
• Of course, this is not to say that our voting is the ultimate solution to the issues in our culture. It’s the power of the gospel that can transform hearts/minds and thus nations (Matthew 28:18–20). And yes, the sad state of this culture should motivate us to keep praying for our nation and engage in the business of the King until he returns. But as Christians, that means we must also seek to minimize evil and maximize righteousness—by judging every politician against God’s standards and to vote accordingly! So don’t be like that guy who uses the silly argument: “I don’t vote because I think voting doesn’t change anything.” (Stop it!)

Recommended Resources

• Creation Vacations
• Curricula Resources
• Online Courses
• Church Curriculum
• Public School
• Spurgeon Sermons
• Study Guides
• Vacation Bible School
• Train Up a Child

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