Polarized 2023 Movie Review

『A Portrait of Courageous Love Beyond Differences and Boundaries』

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: Polarized (2023)
🌍 Country: 🇬🇧 UK – 🇨🇦 Canada co-production
🎞️ Genre: Drama / Romance / Queer
⏳ Runtime: 109 min
📢 Director: Shamim Sarif
📺 Platform: Tubi (as of June 2024, regionally restricted)

👩‍💼 Cast: Holly Deveaux – Lisa
Maxine Denis – Dalia

🧩 Deep Dive into the Story (Spoilers)

🌾 A Clash of Extremes: Race, Religion, and Economic Backgrounds

The most distinctive feature of 《Polarized》 is the stark contrast in the protagonists’ backgrounds. This goes beyond a simple narrative device to symbolically reflect the film’s theme of a 'divided world.'

• Dalia: A member of a successful Palestinian immigrant Muslim family, she is the manager and overseer of an urban farm. She struggles under the burden of carrying on her family’s success while facing religious and familial pressure to marry her designated fiancé.

• Lisa: From a poor white farming family in rural Manitoba, Canada, raised in a conservative evangelical Christian household. For the sake of survival, she reluctantly takes a job at the modern 'Urban Farm'—the very force seen as displacing traditional farming in her community.

The two first clash when Lisa makes a racist and offensive remark, leading to her being fired. This explosive encounter emphasizes that before love can begin, there must be an honest acknowledgment of deep-seated prejudice and hatred—the film refuses to gloss over conflict and instead confronts it directly.

💘 Identity and Family Pressure: A Painful Journey Toward the ‘True Self’

The relationship between Lisa and Dalia is shaped not only by their surface-level racial and religious conflict but also by the shared themes of inner struggles with identity and breaking away from family expectations.

• Awakening of Sexual Identity: Both women experience the process of realizing or accepting their sexual orientation later in life. Dalia, in particular, already set for marriage, finds her feelings for Lisa a forbidden act that shatters the foundations of her religious and family traditions. The film captures their intense attraction and tension with sensitivity, showing that their love is not mere passion but a pathway to liberating repressed identities.

• The Burden of Family: Lisa struggles within a Christian family that refuses to acknowledge her musical dreams or sexual identity, while Dalia is bound by her Muslim family’s strict expectations to protect their honor through business and marriage. The film sharply highlights the reality that while being 'queer' in a city may be celebrated, in conservative religious or rural communities it still often means ‘betrayal’ and ‘danger.’

🌙 Direction and Message: The Power of ‘Connection’ to Overcome Division

Director Shamim Sarif sets the film against the expansive rural landscapes of Manitoba, which outwardly appear serene but are rife with hate and prejudice beneath the surface—capturing the mood of a divided small community.

• Slow-Building Chemistry: Lead actresses Holly Deveaux and Maxine Denis convincingly portray how initial hostility and guardedness gradually transform into curiosity and undeniable attraction. With a deliberately slow rhythm, the film emphasizes the moments when the two share their wounds and dreams, breaking down walls and building intimacy with authenticity.

• Hope for Reconciliation: 《Polarized》 avoids a fairy-tale ending where all problems are resolved and families offer unconditional blessings. Instead, it stresses the value of individuals daring to step off the 'preordained path' in pursuit of identity and happiness. The core message is clear: Though we are polarized by prejudice and anger, love and empathy are the only bridges that can truly connect us. The film’s focus on a successful Palestinian immigrant community and refusal to shy away from racial complexity make it especially notable in the queer cinema landscape.

💘 A Queer Drama with Multiple Layers

《Polarized》 is more than just a romance about breaking barriers; it weaves together race, religion, class, and sexual orientation, creating a complex drama about contemporary divisions. While some critics note the chemistry between the leads develops a bit slowly, Shamim Sarif’s signature warm yet weighty direction makes the film a realistic and thoughtful queer story. It reminds us of the enduring power of love and truth in confronting persistent prejudice and oppression.

✨ Shamim Sarif’s Consistent Vision and Sensibility

Continuing in the spirit of 《The World Unseen》 and 《I Can’t Think Straight》, Shamim Sarif once again illustrates that ‘difference’ can be the starting point of love, not just conflict. Her signature sensitivity in capturing the intersections of emotion across boundaries of race, religion, and class shines in this work as well.

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★★