Coming-of-age drama about a skateboarding muslim teen debuts on Apple TV+

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Hala stars Geraldine Viswanathan and Jack Kilmer
Hala (Geraldine Viswanathan) has a crush on an American classmate (Jack Kilmer), to her family’s dismay.
Photo: Apple

Hala, a film about the struggle of a Muslim teen fitting in in America, just became the second movie available on the Apple TV+ video service.

The independent feature debuted earlier this year at the Sundance festival, and reviewers have generally liked this drama.

Hala brings realistic feels

Apple’s summary of this full-length film says:

“Seventeen-year-old Pakistani American teenager Hala (Geraldine Viswanathan) struggles to balance desire with her familial, cultural and religious obligations. As she comes into her own, she grapples with a secret that threatens to unravel her family.”

Rolling Stone described it as “a quietly radical take on the art of finding one’s voice, playing out both in front of and behind the lens.”

The Hindustan Times says “The film is, in many ways, an accurate depiction of growing up in a South Asian household.”

It was written and directed by Minhal Baig and executive produced by Jada Pinkett Smith. In addition to Sundance, Hala was also an official selection of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.

Watch it now on Apple TV+

Hala is available to subscribers of Apple TV+. This costs $4.99 a month, but anyone who recently purchased select Apple devices can enjoy a free one-year subscription. And for everyone else, there’s a one-week free trial.

Since its launch last month, Apple’s streaming video service has depended mostly on series, with See and The Morning Show being the standouts so far. The only other movie has been a nature documentary, The Elephant Queen. But many more films are in development.

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