Honour (I) (2014) User Reviews

An unusual topic

[peterp-450-298716 · 5/10 · 9 January 2015]

"Two people love each other, why can't people be happy for them? He's Punjabi, Mona. He's Muslim, Adel. Yeah, but that ain't how it works."

Occasionally you watch a movie with a rarely used (or abused) topic. No alien creatures threatening to destroy humanity, not another childish story about a post-apocalyptic world with a youngster as a liberator, not again cheap humor in a silly comedy with overstressed eager beaver, not an average action story with muscled guys or a horror with once again an evil spirit being driven out by using medieval rituals to the place where it came from. "Honour" is about honor killings.

Despite our modern society this ancient use is still applicable in some cultures. Especially in the Muslim communities they sometimes fall back on this custom. Mostly the targeted persons are those who ashamed their family and, believe it or not, these mad acts are justified by certain laws of Islam. In some countries the majority of perpetrators go unpunished like in Pakistan. It's a despicable thought that there are hundreds of women being killed each year because they have violated the family honor. And that's the starting point of this film.

"Honour" is a gray and depressing impression of the beautiful Mona (Aiysha Heart) whose life enters a gruesome cycle of violence after she began an affair with a Punjabi and therefore experiences the wrath of her primal conservative mother (Harvey Virdi). Mona's mother (the similarity with the nasty witch from Hansel and Gretel is striking) and brother Kasim (Faraz Ayub) first try to take the law into their own hands. This goes wrong (in an incomprehensible way) and they hire a bounty hunter (Paddy Considine) to liquidate Mona.

You can call the performances of the actress Aiysha Hart and the other actors commendable. Persuasive and dedicated. A cast that does its utmost to realize a credible and realistic story. Considine plays a sublime character role. You can see the duality in his character evolving. From a cold blooded, racist assassin into a true understanding person who apparently still has a bit of humanity inside him. Despite these superb performances, the film still fails on several points. Apparently Shan Khan couldn't really decide whether it should be a didactic documentary or a thriller. It's not a documentary because the background of the problem is pretty vaguely presented and there's hardly any explanation. For a thriller, there has been as much as no suspense. Also, the storyline was pretty confusing because of the constant use of time jumps and constantly viewing the same situation from a different viewpoint. The whole movie was like a Spaghetti Bolognaise: tasteful with a clew of story lines.

Despite being a low-budget film, "Honour" partly succeeded to convince. It throws some light on a mysterious and incomprehensible to our standards culture, where barbaric practices are still honored. All in all I thought it was a good movie and a must see, if only to conclude that unfortunately such practices are still part of our modern society. And despite the dark atmosphere, this film also shows a gentle side so there remains still a bit of hope. Technically, I thought the executed idea of the film being a loop, not unkind and creative.

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Religions should be abolished for a better future

[deloudelouvain · 7/10 · 12 March 2015]

I would not call this movie a thriller but a drama. Unfortunately a drama that still happens in these ages. The barbaric beliefs of people still living like in the middle ages. Whatever somebody wants to do with his life is his or her choice and nobody should interfere in that life as long as the person doesn't harm anybody. I thought the movie was well made with good actors that made the story believable. For me as a convinced atheist it is painful to watch that in the twenty-first century there are still people who act like that. I hate every religion or sect and I think we can only have a better future if all religions were to be abolished. I know this will never happen and that's too bad but if at least every believer of whatever religion would just get on with his own life and leave all the rest in peace then maybe we would get somewhere. From all the religions there are Islam is by far the most retarded of them all. It looks like they didn't evolve in time. Anyways, I thought the movie was interesting to watch even though it made me mad. Certainly worth a watch.

A Movie That Deals with a Very Serious Issue

[chrismackey1972 · 6/10 · 3 September 2014]

I thought this was an awesome movie that dealt with a serious issue. I've never seen a movie based on "honour" killings before. There is nothing honorable about those killings. They are conducted by cowardly bigots who are not open to change and have very myopic views of the world, and they impose their disgusting views on their family. This was very well done. I strongly recommend this movie. The acting and the script was great. One thing I didn't care much for in the movie, however, was they kept jumping around in time. For instance, at the beginning, Mona is seen being strangled by her brother. The scene right after that shows she is with her Punjabi boyfriend. They could've made that a lot clearer had they simple had a text on screen that said something like "2 Days Earlier." It needed that to make it clear what the timeline was. Instead, as a viewer, I was kind of confused.

Alysha Hart (Mona) really stood out. She is a very good actress, and I hope to see her in more movies in the future. Paddy Considine reminds me a lot of Damian Lewis (from Homeland). This is the second movie I've seen him in, and he was good in both. The supporting players were equally good. As I said, I recommend this film. The ending is a bit Hollywood-ized, as most honour killing situations won't have anything but a really bad and bloody ending for the one targeted to be killed.

I gave this an 6-star rating because the acting, directing, and the script were all great. I also liked that it dealt with a very serious problem that hasn't really been addressed by the filmmaking community. I would've given it a 9-star rating, but - again - I didn't like that the timeline of events was confusing. They should've either made the film in chronological order instead of jumping around, or at least made it clear that certain scenes happened earlier.

A Difficult Movie to Watch and Review

[l_rawjalaurence · 6/10 · 24 September 2014]

HONOUR is a difficult movie to watch. Centering on the idea of honor killings, a practice that not only prevails in Muslim communities but in other cultures as well, it focuses on the way in which Mona (Aiysha Hart), 'transgresses' her family's sense of ethics by falling in love with a Punjabi man Tanvir (Nikesh Patel). Spurred on by her elder brother Kasim (Faraz Ayub), who works for London's Metropolitan Police by day, the family engage a bounty- hunter (Paddy Considine) to pursue Mona and discover her whereabouts. This he agrees to do, while at the same time despising the family, especially Mother (Harvey Virdi), who spends most of her time at home working as a seamstress.

The movie opens explosively with the dénouement, and then goes back to tell the story of why Mona was considered to 'transgress'. The ideas might seem shocking to non-Muslims, but Shan Khan's film shows how important it is for young women - especially - to forge the right marriages, even if it means them being transported back to Pakistan to marry a spouse chosen for them by their family, and agreed upon (normally on financial terms) by the groom's family.

Shot in neo-documentary style around the streets of the London suburb of Southall, a major center for the Asian community, HONOUR makes much of the private/public distinction: by day Kasim spends his time working for an organization that explicitly pursues anti- racist policies (in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, which exposed large-scale racism in the Metropolitan Police). By night he appears to embrace just the kind of racism that the police try to eradicate, as he abuses Tanvir - and at one point holds him captive. Yet director Khan does not criticize Kasim for this; on the contrary he suggests that this is a way of life for many of London's Asian communities.

The real villain of the piece is Considine's bounty-hunter, who has no sense of belief other than to obtain as much money as possible. He is the true racist in the sense that he makes no effort to understand anybody's motives; all that matters for him is that the job should be done and he should receive due financial reward. It is people like him who help to perpetuate the racist stereotypes that prevent members of different communities from integrating with one another in inner cities - not just in London, but everywhere.

HONOUR offers no comfort of an easy resolution. On the contrary, it suggests that second or third generation Asians living in western capitals have to acknowledge the presence of cultural difference, and observe the conventions laid down by their families, even it that means sacrificing the so-called 'freedom' of the west for a more confined existence. This might seem 'unfair' in Mona's cause, but only because she has been brought up in a culture that supposedly values free will.

YOU TELL ME YOUR STORY AND I'LL TELL YOU MINE

[nogodnomasters · 7/10 · 3 August 2018]

Mona (Aiysha Hart) is a westernized Pakistani living in England. Her relationship with her boyfriend, as well as her westernized ways have dishonored the family. In the first few minutes of the film, she is killed and placed in a trunk. We then flash back to the events leading up to her demise.

An Aryan Brotherhood hitman (Paddy Considine) is hired to find and return her in the flashback. His normal job is to kill dishonored Muslim women, working for the community of Muslims while all the while hating them. About 50 minutes into the film we are back to where we started. There was no good reason for the flashback other than to confuse us and to tease us with some action in this slow action drama.

The film is a bit dry and formulaic.

F-bomb. Brief implied sex. No nudity.

Simplified movie about a complicated issue

[Seth_Rogue_One · 5/10 · 5 January 2016]

This is a tricky movie to review, it's a little all over the place at times and while occasionally it gets interesting it as often is rather boring.

And that has to do partly with the fact that pretty much everyone except for the victim are disgusting human beings and it focuses more on them than it does the only sympathetic character in the movie, and they aren't that fleshed out characters either to make up for it.

Paddy Considine is all over the poster but for the first hour he merely shows up here and there and it often made me wonder what his characters purpose even was, he ended up serving a purpose in the end though but yeah he's definitely not a lead character for the first hour that's for sure and clearly only on the poster to attract viewers.

I'm conflicted about the movie regarding it's subject, on one hand I do think that it's important to bring up cause honour killings do occur all over the world.

It's just the way it was dealt with that didn't sit right with me, cause they simplified it all and it almost felt like it was suggesting that any Muslim can turn into a vicious killer at any moment because of their pride, and other Muslims accept it which is an idea that the right-wing media is already trying to sell to the world causing racism and this movie will surely not help to prevent that from happening.

Not saying that you should hide away from subjects just for fear of such things but yeah it made it all seem so simple to what is a very complicated issue, it needed to be handled in a much more delicate manner, and perhaps it would have helped if there were any decent people in it beyond the victim to show that not everyone is like this.

I found Honour to be a bit of a plodding mess....I was disappointed to say the least

[jimbo-53-186511 · 3/10 · 25 May 2014]

Honour starts off interesting enough; a young woman Mona (Aiysha Hart) is living at home with her mother and 2 brothers Kasim (Faraz Ayub) and Adel (Shubham Saraf). Mona lives with her strict and devout Muslim mother (Harvey Virdi), who resents Mona for not following her lead - she refuses to speak her native tongue, she also refuses to wear a headscarf etc. Things become worse for Mona when she meets and falls in love with Tanvir (Nikesh Patel). Her family refuse to accept the fact that she intends to marry this man due to the fact that Tanvir isn't one of their own. However, Mona refuses to listen to her family and consequently goes on the run. Mona's mother hires Bounty Hunter (Paddy Considine)to find her daughter and bring her back home.

I think the main reason I was disappointed with this is that it just wasn't what I was expecting (unfortunately not in a good way). I expected an edge of your seat 'cat and mouse' chase involving The Bounty Hunter and Mona, but what I actually got was a boring film that took a very long time to not really go anywhere. I thought that the pace would pick up once Considine's character was introduced, but as soon as he started saying 'This is one last job' and 'My heart's not in this anymore' or words to that effect that it would be predictable that he would decide to help Mona. Whilst it was nice to see Considine helping her out, it meant that the film ended up lacking any tension and the film was less enjoyable as a result.

The film was shot out of sequence where the end of the film is shown at the beginning. I didn't mind the fact that the film was shot out of sequence because the film wasn't difficult to follow, but I personally just found it to be far too repetitive and found that it never really got going. None of the characters had much depth to them which didn't help as I found myself not caring for any of the characters on screen. The chemistry between Mona and Tanvir was quite poor and I wasn't convinced by their romance whatsoever.

There were other minor things that annoyed me such as Mona's mother giving Mona a hard time for speaking in English rather than her mother's native tongue, but then a bit later in the film Mona's mother starts talking in English. That just didn't make much sense to me. The whole murder scene involving Mona was a bit stupid as well - they strangle her and assume her to be dead, they then carry her body to the woods in a box. However, when Adel opens the box, Mona lashes out at him and makes good her escape. It is obvious that she was playing dead, but I found it hard to believe that nobody thought to check her pulse before they put her in the box. I'll admit that her escape came as a bit of a surprise, but I was still a little bit disappointed due to how contrived it felt.

Considine is likely to be the only recognisable face in this film for most people and he does an OK job here (although I personally feel that this is far from his best work). Everyone else was OK, but there weren't any standout performances.

Honour had the potential to be a great film; the premise was good, but I found the film to be far too repetitive and boring for the most part. Even when Considine was introduced, the film still didn't really go anywhere - he finds her far too easily and then decides to help her. This to me doesn't make for a particularly 'thrilling' film. Again this twist was nice, but it made the film a lot less exciting and a lot less tense than it could have been.

The only positives from this film come in the last 10-15 minutes. In these final few minutes, the film had a bit of tension and energy which was severely lacking in the rest of the film. I also like the message behind the film and it will no doubt help to open people's eyes to the appalling treatment which still occurs to some Muslim women. It's just a shame that for the most part that Honour was so boring.

Ethno-cultural Hunger Games

[t-leadbeater · 9/10 · 9 May 2014]

I saw this recently at an Insight event - promoting faith based films - which did not in the end feel quite right. The focus is on testosterone-led patriarchy rather than religion. Nice touch (minor spoiler) that the elder brother is in the police.

The central couple are sympathetic although their relationship is sketched as minimally as necessary to set the plot going. An interesting angle is intra-communal snobbery (almost racism) of the woman's family towards the Panjabi boyfriend. This is expressed most contemptuously by the elder brother but also leads to the most brilliant scene in which he simultaneously speeds to a domestic violence incident whilst threatening murder in Urdu on the phone to the other brother.

The producer said his intention was "to entertain" and that it was not an issue-based film.It's definitely gripping and free of sanctimony. I think "tell a story" would have better covered both his/their commercial hopes and the use of honour killing as a plot.

A sort of real-life Hunger Games - the woman is rather character-less but you root for her.

The wrong man

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 8 November 2016]

Honour deal with the subject of honour killings in sections of the Pakistani Muslim community although prevalent amongst Hindus and Sikhs.

Mona (Aiysha Hart) is a modern young woman who lives with her mother (Harvey Virdi) and two brothers Kasim (Faraz Ayub) who is a police officer and much younger Adel (Shubham Saraf). Her mother is strict and devout, I would probably add a hypocrite as well.

Mona is going out with another Pakistani Muslim Tanvir (Nikesh Patel). However this is not good enough for her family because he is Punjabi or something. So in effect he is Muslim, he is from Pakistan but the wrong region or caste so not good enough for the family and enough to bring shame to them. You see what I meant when I called her mother a hypocrite.

When the rest of the family hear about her plans to marry this they go off the rails. Kasim threatens Tanvir and frightens him off. For bringing shame to the family they attempt to kill her but she escapes and the family hire a bounty hunter (Paddy Considine)to find her. Considine is happy to take money from Asians although we note he is a racist.

Writer/director Shan Khan mixes the time line to heighten the suspense of what is a straightforward thriller. It works to an extent but too often the film becomes a hysterical melodrama with the focus on Karim the foul mouthed cop turned bad guy as he has been too brain washed by his repulsive mother.

There is a scene where his mother tells him that as a policeman, a pillar of the community, with his family's standing, he is an eligible catch and could marry a top Pakistani girl. His sister'r behaviour has put all this at risk.

At least the film highlights the sensitive issue of honour killings but it needs to have placed more explanation to the viewer as to why Tanvir was deemed to be unsuitable for Mona or else the viewer could be left confused.

The film is set in London but there is a glaring scene of a main road in the Isle of Man which I recognised as it was near where I used to live.

Totally unrealistic movie, no cohesive plot and next to no character development.

[g-h-f · 1/10 · 27 November 2015]

I am going to keep this short. This movie paints an extremely unrealistic and ignorant view of British Asian culture, especially British Pakistani culture. None of the characters have any real depth, there are copious amounts of foul language thrown about with no real thought to context. I was also very confused by the order in which the scenes were presented to the viewer, half the time it made no sense at all.

Lastly I would like to point out that as a British Pakistani, I was offended by this movie. I believe the topic of honour killings is a very relevant and serious one and if a director/writer wants to tackle that subject, it should be done so with respect and consideration.

Dishonorable mention

[emelio-lizardo · 10 May 2014]

"Honour killings are violent acts of vengeance, committed by male family members against female relatives ..." This is patently untrue. Honor killings do not discriminate by gender. Women simply get the publicity.

But it seems every writer must follow Feminist (gender Marxist) dogma and carry water for "the war on women" screed.

Again and again, bad male culture, poor 'heroic' women victims and the white knights that save them to prove how strong they are.

This inanity keeps cropping up again and again by a whole generation of writers brainwashed since childhood to despise the penis.

Disappointing

[papreedy · 2/10 · 28 November 2015]

The editing and structure of the film is confusing, the characters without depth or development, certain crucial incidents are contrived and unbelievable. The opportunity to show the real horror and wickedness of so-called 'honour' murders is lost except for short scenes such as the mother encouraging or bullying her sons to betray and kill their sister. When one considers the brutal murder of a real defenceless girl by her parents on a settee in their home around 2000, with the rest of the siblings watching and only one of them brave enough to tell the truth years later, this kind of film trivialises the sheer nightmare immorality of such parents and such homes. Those killers were eventually sentenced to life in jail after the police doggedly pursued their conviction. That is a dramatic enough story to tell without bounty hunters, clichéd rooftop scenes, and hypocritical thugs with foul minds and foul mouths attending prayers and pretending to uphold the law.

As for the original reviewer of this film, the Muslim person who wrote it should be ashamed of the predictable 'moral message' he managed to drag out of it, which seems to be that girls should do exactly what their families want and have no minds, thoughts or feelings of their own. Here's an idea that might not have occurred to him: if you move to a culture that is alien to your own degraded one and cannot handle it, go back to where you really belong and live happily there. Don't bring sickening, perverted ideas of murdering children to save some ridiculous idea of 'honour' to a country that believes in the right to freedom of thought, speech and action under the law.

Raw realty difference of two cultures in UK

[bektaskonca · 8/10 · 3 May 2014]

i can say nothing was hold back on this movie about the hate on both sides, film was dark, raw and gritty as it can get in Great Britain. i am guessing this film will upset a lot of people who are Muslim and i have to say i do not fallow any religion myself but saying that lots of Muslim's will come to realise the truth in the story which is happening all around us even today. i am from Turkey originally so bit more open minded about Women's choices but to east of Turkey mostly in Urfa honour killings are reality even to this date, lately a girl getting raped and killed by family member by drowning while she was 4 months pregnant. i am not an ostrich i will not put my head in sand and say this is not happening like most, Honour killing is not a religious but cultural upbringing it happens not just in Muslim cultures but seems more apparent due to how often it is happening. i have to say only way forward is educating people by saying taking life is wrong moral point and religious point and this job task is for making tougher laws by government and religious leaders speaking out to their community to change hearts. i believe the film was well acted but have to say it was rushed with bad cutting directing was OK i would have like to see the story being more longer more character development and more depth as it is i gave 8 should have been 6-7 but it is a brave, bold and raw take on this sensitive matter for that it deserves 8 and should be watched by every one over the age of 18 due to way more realistic Violence used in the film.

Realistic and brave attempt to show how it is

[shaneis · 8/10 · 5 December 2015]

I find it a little ridiculous that a few reviews have based their review on their own religious views, g-h-f from London seemed more interested that they are a Pakinstani from England...what that has got to do with an honest critique beats me. The film shows it how it is, anyone with any real life experience will know this movie has portrayed the subject truthfully, there's no 'disrespect' to any religion or nationality, this movie is accurate and at the same time worrying. About time a director told it like it is and not namby pamby around the subject. It is what it is, unacceptable, awful, cruel and disrespectful to women and indeed to society. More films should tell the truth and be direct rather than try to be PC.

Honour Killing.

[Nemesis42 · 9/10 · 12 March 2015]

The film addresses the insanity of extremists who are so spiritually void that they believe it is okay to kill a member of their own family if that member wishes to choose their own lover, specifically a lover whom is out of favor with the said extremists. This kind of death-wish upon another is plain nuts and has no place what-so-ever on our planet or in the universe.

Anyone who considers honour killing an acceptable way to behave needs re-education in the ways of logic and compassion.

Crimes of passion will likely always happen, and happen across a variety of cultures worldwide. But when it happens, the appropriate penalties must be applied. It is a shame that in some counties it is tolerated by local authorities, this is the problem.

It is a murderous and sub-human practice. If severe punishment were dispensed to the imbeciles who order these murders, worldwide, then more children will learn the right way.

They will learn that love should not be restricted by race or religion.

As much a great thriller as an exposé

[robertemerald · 9/10 · 19 April 2019]

I don't have much to add that distracts from my stars or my tag line. Any movie brave enough have 'honour' as its title is asking to be criticised, but with this Honour, such is unnecessary. The director, the cameramen, and the editors here have created a truly professional piece. Its class is shown in the contrast between the cinematography, full of bright clear colour, which shows a modern, happy and vibrant England (like a shopping interlude on a Nigella Lawson show), and the story itself, brilliantly constructed from several person's perspective, before coming together for the dramatic close. It is in this last aspect that the movie truly satisfies as a thriller. It's well cast, wonderfully acted, and keeps the viewer guessing. I highly recommend it as a thriller, as well as the talent on display as a work of cinematic excellence, and of course the enlightened way the writer has presented a terrible evil in our society. Worthy of several awards.

Racial tension, understanding, vitriol.

[fathersonholygore · 9/10 · 9 August 2014]

There are several reasons why I really enjoyed Shan Khan's Honour. First, I really enjoy Paddy Considine. He is a fine actor, as well as director, but here it's really put to the test. He plays a highly unlikable man for most of the feel, though we do see him become someone else through the process. Second, the script is really fantastic; it's edgy, raw, there is grit to the themes within. Essentially, the story is about a young British Muslim girl who is targeted for honour killing after her brothers discover she plans to run off with a young Punjabi man. After their attempts to reel her in slowly come to a drastic and failed end, the family, along with the mother, hire a bounty hunter in London to track her down, and it just so happens he is a racist; though for a racist, he certainly knows the culture, even their language, well.

In a day and age where there is a lot of conflict over extremists and fundamentalists in various religions around the world, I can imagine it was tough to make a film about Muslims and honour killing. The film is a tough one. At times it is brutal, violent, messy. Other times it comes across as a great crime thriller. The script is tense. The story is told on film in a non-linear fashion, giving us a look at what led to the family's decision to kill the daughter. I think Khan did a great job with the script, and it translated well to screen.

The acting came top notch here. I was very impressed with Aiysha Hart who played Mona, the young girl on the run from her own family, as well as Faraz Ayub and Shubham Saraf who played her brothers. Considine was absolutely incredible though, and it's his performance which truly shines above all else. The look and feel of the film was gritty, something I always enjoy. How everything looked, dark and sort of grim, really fit the subject matter and the tone of the film.

All in all I have to give the film a 9 out of 10. Everything worked together to create a really wonderful film.

I think the message here is presented through Considine's character. In the beginning, he is truly racist; he hates Muslims, any person of colour. Even though he deals with Muslims, he seems to have a disdain for them. He has white supremacist ink on his body, including an Aryan tattoo, which he later tries to singe off. By the end, after he has come to see the inner workings of the extremist Muslim circles and he sees his own behaviour mirrored in their fundamentalist, violent beliefs. Through others and their hatred, the character understands his own, or better yet he comes to reject it, understanding it is only hate, it is nothing but thoughts and misconceptions and foolish notions.

This is a must-see film. I highly recommend it. I don't give it a full 10 stars, only because I felt there was something missing. Perhaps a little more of the past behind Considine's character, though we get bits and pieces, would have made it a perfect film. Though it's still an incredible movie. It inspires hope, that people who hate can turn around, somehow, some way.

VERY uncomfortable

[Alanjackd · 10/10 · 23 November 2015]

10?? have not given a 10 since Paper Moon but the reason for a 10 is as follows.

Very disturbing view of British multi cultural existence,,,that being the only reason for a 10...very brave direction and storytelling that could have easily ended up as an anti Muslim or racist vehicle...movies like this should be made to make us think about our own boundaries and ideals ...now the review of the movie itself which would have warranted a 4 or maybe 5.

The only thing that lets it down is Paddy Considene..not because he is bad but because he is such a brilliant actor people will watch it just to see him..it should have been made with unknowns so the message was about the narrative,,,not the actors.

Never before have I found myself feeling so uncomfortable watching a movie...and that is what movie making is all about.

I shall be watching for the director in the future.