Quickening

Directed by Haya Waseem, Quickening details the coming-of-age exploits of Arooj Azeem’s Sheila and follows the character as she attempts to balance her own wants and desires with those of her reasonable but traditional parents. It’s clear immediately that Waseem, working from her own screenplay, has cultivated an often irresistibly authentic atmosphere that does, at the outset, hold plenty of promise, as the first-time filmmaker delivers a grounded, low-key drama that benefits rather substantially from Azeem’s stirring turn as the tormented protagonist. There’s little doubt, however, that Quickening‘s meandering narrative and excessively deliberate pace slowly-but-surely drain one’s interest and attention, with Waseem’s almost aggressively lackadaisical approach to the material resulting in an erratic and distressingly uninvolving midsection (ie it becomes more and more apparent that Waseem is more concerned with mood and ambiance over context and forward momentum). The inclusion of a few admittedly compelling sequences, coupled with Christopher Lew’s thoroughly striking visuals, prevents the viewer from checking out entirely, to be sure, although the central character’s somewhat inscrutable nature does make it more and more difficult to wholeheartedly sympathize with her plight (ie Waseem’s inability to get into Sheila’s head dulls the emotional impact of certain late-in-the-game revelations, ultimately). The end result is an earnest and undeniably handsome effort that is, for the most part, completely inert and uninvolving, which is too bad, really, given that Waseem is obviously a talented filmmaker destined, one hopes, for bigger and better things.

** out of ****