Photo via Angel Studios Press Kit
By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
Angel Studios returns with another riveting drama based on a true story that will speak to your heart. “Rule Breakers” is their latest film and tells the wonderful story of these young Afghanistan women overcoming insurmountable challenges to pursue their dreams. Once again, this studio proves that strong storytelling with a capable cast and a small budget can reach higher quality than most of Hollywood’s blockbusters.
Afghanistan is not known for being a haven for women’s rights, especially when the Taliban is in control of the government. When the U.S. military removed them from power, it opened the door of opportunity for young women. Roya Mahboob (Nikohl Boosheri) took advantage of this opportunity by empowering herself and other like-minded females to educate themselves in various subjects like computers.
Roya’s dream is to promote education among young women across the country, allowing others like her to access their potential and fulfill their personal dreams. Despite the incredibly real danger she puts herself in, she takes it a step further to establish an all-female robotics team to compete around the world. The team, consisting of Esin (Amber Afzali), Taara (Nina Hosseinzadeh), Haadiya (Sara Malal Rowe), and Arezo (Mariam Saraj), brings their unique set of skills to bear that could change the course of their lives forever. Unfortunately, they must overcome a seemingly insurmountable number of obstacles that would end most teams, like family fear and pressure, Taliban scare tactics and simply obtaining Visas to travel to competitions in the United States. But for these Afghan Dreamers, tenacity is one thing they do not lack.
When the U.S. military unceremoniously left Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban immediately retook control of the country, sending the nation spiraling back to a Dark Ages mentality and prohibiting women from receiving an education beyond the 6th grade. So, amazing true stories like this one will not be heard about anytime soon at least. This makes the impact of the story all the more poignant, and director Bill Guttentag seems to be well aware as he films the moving journey of these rebellious young women, reminding everyone that there are places in this world that view basic human rights as only a suggestion. There is a clear priority at achieving authenticity and accuracy with the real Roya Mahboob serving as an Executive Producer for this film.
Guttentag is a two-time Oscar winning filmmaker, whose expertise has primarily been with documentaries, but he seems to understand the importance of being a bit less clinical in his approach to connect this dramatic storyline with his audience. While he does lose a little connectivity in the beginning of the film through his dizzying employment of multiple flashbacks and flashforwards, Guttentag then settles the movie into a more linear storytelling experience. This allows him to achieve greater impact as he shows one difficult obstacle after another these brave young women had to endure, and their subsequent inspirational mentality to overcome to keep their hopes and dreams alive.
The cast may not have any household names, but don’t underestimate them, this is a talented cast from top to bottom. Canadian actress Nikohl Boosheri is the star of this production, and she proves to be more than capable of shouldering that responsibility with a natural, charismatic screen presence that holds viewers’ attention. She emboldens her character with a dogged determination and unwavering commitment despite multiple challenges to shake her resolve. The other young actresses rounding out the main roles were very well cast, equally adept at making their characters charmingly likeable in their own ways and fully investing the audience in their outcomes.
This is already the second heartfelt, resounding true story Angel Studios has brought to theaters this year, the first being “Brave the Dark.” Do not miss the opportunity to see “Rule Breakers” on the big screen, its inspiring message of courage and tenacity is an outstanding one for the whole family, but especially for young girls with dreams in their hearts. This remarkable film is available in theaters this weekend.
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