Punk is rough, punk is unconventional, and punk loves to explore and expose the cracks and crevices in society that allow the powerless to fall through while giving the powerful a way out. Now add a shot of fiery feminism and a penchant for reveling in being social and religious outcasts, and you have Lady Parts.
Created, written, and directed by Nida Manzoor the series tends to hover around Amina (Anjana Vasan ) an awkward Ph.D. student looking for love on all the wrong dating apps while attempting to finish school. When not focusing on her labs she can be found teaching underserved youth guitar lessons at a local charity, she herself being an incredible guitarist but lacking in the fine art of performance. After auditioning for Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey ), Bisma (Faith Omole ), Ayesha (Juliette Motamed), and band manager Momtaz (Lucie Shorthouse ) during a hastily contrived audition for a lead guitarist, Amina (who only showed up because she was given a flyer by a hot guy) tries desperately to back out but is lured in for both an audition and a gig with the promise of a date with the same hot guy who was handing out the flyers. It went as well as can be expected but secured her a spot with the band nonetheless, regardless if she fit the genre or not.
Photo courtesy of Stylist
Once the band begins to branch out and play more shows, the need for a social media presence arises, bringing with it a lot of attention by fans and detractors alike, including an influencer who offers to interview the band for exposure (independent of each other) but from the interview cobbles together a borderline hit-piece by quote-mining the band’s responses making them public enemy #1 on social media shortly after the work is published. While the hate flows in, the band strains and eventually cracks under the pressure of the misinformation campaign against them, sending everyone back to their normal, pre-band lives. I won’t spoil the ending, but the means and methods that are employed to pull off the stellar finale episode are absolute magic and give the series a satisfying finish, to say the least.
IF we did rankings here (and we don’t) but if we did, I’d give this series an 8 out of 10. Brilliant writing, fantastic cast, fun soundtrack, and wonderfully shot with a few quirky cutaways to help keep its edge.
Photo courtesy of Collider