4 Best Movies to Watch by Wasim Zakir

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1. Four Lions, 2010

Four Lions is as black and as dark as a movie can ever get, mixing cultural relevancy with humor and ridiculousness. It is insensitive to Islam, insensitive to terrorism and insensitive to the viewer. But it is hilarious. The director spent three years talking to Imams, terrorism experts and basically everyone. The result? A legit 97 minutes that will dazzle even extremists with its knowledge of Islam and the accuracy of its lines. Needless to say that it will upset quite a few people, but that is always a good sign for black comedy movies, right?

Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama

Actor: Adeel Akhtar, Adil Mohammed Javed, Alex MacQueen, Arsher Ali, Benedict Cumberbatch, Craig Parkinson, Darren Boyd, Jonathan Maitland, Julia Davis, Kayvan Novak, Kevin Eldon, Marcus Garvey, Nigel Lindsay, Preeya Kalidas, Riz Ahmed, Shameem Ahmad, Waleed Elgadi, Wasim Zakir, Will Adamsdale

Director: Chris Morris, Christopher Morris

Rating: R

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2. Three Girls, 2017

	
Sexual assault and trafficking are never easy to depict onscreen, especially when they’re based on true events, but Three Girls strikes a balance between realism and empathy. It’s gritty but never gratuitous, critical but never preachy. You can tell the cast and crew took their time to carefully tell this important tale, which continues to be overlooked by authorities in Manchester. As a result, Three Girls can be difficult and frustrating to sit through, but that only speaks to the quality of its acting and storytelling. Three Girls is a must-watch, but you’d be forgiven for not wanting to put it on a second time.Genre: Crime, Drama
Actor: Ace Bhatti, Adam Karim, Adrian Harris, Amanda Hale, Antonio Aakeel, Bo Bragason, Brian Fletcher, Deka Walmsley, Ezra Faroque Khan, Jackie Clune, Jamie Ballard, Jason Hughes, Jay Sajjid, Jessica Fostekew, Jill Halfpenny, Jonas Khan, Katherine Pearce, Katy Carmichael, Kerrie Hayes, Lesley Sharp, Lisa Riley, Liv Hill, Maggie Service, Marc Danbury, Marc Geoffrey, Maxine Peake, Molly Windsor, Naomi Radcliffe, Nick Moss, Paul Hickey, Paul Kaye, Pearce Quigley, Peter Singh, Philip Hill-Pearson, Ria Zmitrowicz, Robert Gwilym, Ross Anderson, Rupert Procter, Salman Akhtar, Simon Cook, Simon Nagra, Steffan Rhodri, Tebraiz Shahzad, Tom Prior, Tristan Sturrock, Vincenzo Pellegrino, Vineeta Rishi, Waleed Akhtar, Wasim Zakir
Director:  Philippa Lowthorpe
Rating: NR

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3. Apostasy, 2017

This is a slow but well-made movie about a Jehovah’s Witness family, directed by a former member of the organization.

The family is made of Alex, her mother, and her older sister. Alex follows her mother and her religious teachings with the utmost loyalty, especially as she refuses a blood transfusion that is crucial to her health. Her older sister starts showing signs of independence by lying to her friends about her family’s faith and dating a Muslim man.

Apostasy is about family bonds versus belief bonds. It’s not a movie that judges or preaches, rather it simply portrays the complex situations that structured religion creates.

Genre: Drama

Actor: Aqib Khan, Bronwyn James, Christian Foster, Claire Hackett, Clare McGlinn, Daisy Cooper-Kelly, Jacqueline Pilton, James Foster, James Puddephatt, James Quinn, Jessica Baglow, Molly Wright, Peter Slater, Poppy Jhakra, Robert Emms, Sacha Parkinson, Siobhan Finneran, Steve Evets, Wasim Zakir

Director: Daniel Kokotajlo

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4. What's Love Got to Do with It?, 2023

As glad as I am to see a film celebrating the complex joys of interracial love and debunking the stigma of arranged marriages, I can’t help but wonder how and why a film about love got to be so dry and passionless. Is dating really this painfully awkward? Is marriage really this burdensome? Realistically, yes, but when you’re trying to make a point about true love supposedly trumping it all, including cultural differences and age-old traditions, then you should at least make it seem like the winner. The movie tries to have its cake and eat it too by serving us heaps of realism and fantasy on one plate, failing to understand that you only have to pick one to be palatable. “Love Contractually” is the title of Zoe’s documentary, but it’s also the name this movie should’ve gone with, seeing as how everyone acts like they’re obligated to be here.

Genre: Comedy, Romance

Actor: Alexander Owen, Alice Orr-Ewing, Asim Chaudhry, Ben Ashenden, Emma Thompson, Haqi Ali, Jamal Andreas, Jeff Mirza, Lily James, Michael Marcus, Mim Shaikh, Munir Khairdin, Nikkita Chadha, Nosheen Phoenix, Oliver Chris, Peter Sandys-Clarke, Ravi Aujla, Sajal Ali, Shabana Azmi, Shaheen Khan, Shazad Latif, Sindhu Vee, Taj Atwal, Wasim Zakir

Director: Shekhar Kapur

Rating: PG-13

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