Rule Breakers (2025) Angel/Drama RT: 120 minutes Rated PG (thematic material and some violent content) Director: Bill Guttentag Screenplay: Jason Brown, Bill Guttentag and Elaha Mahboob Music: Jeff Beal Cinematography: John Pardue Release date: March 7, 2025 (US) Cast: Nikohl Boosheri, Nina Hosseinzadeh, Amber Afzali, Sara Malal Rowe, Mariam Saraj, Noorin Gulamgaus, Ali Fazal, Nada El Belkasmi, Nasser Memarzia, Christian Contreras, Tatsu Carvalho, Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Rating: ** ½
The good news about Rule Breakers, the latest film from faith-based Angel Studios, is that it doesn’t have its hand out. It doesn’t have somebody asking you to scan a QR code to make donations while the end credits roll, the cinematic equivalent to a public television pledge drive. I know the producers mean well, but it comes off as shameless and pandering to me.
Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s talk about Rule Breakers. It’s pretty good. It’s a BOATS drama about a courageous individual defying societal rule to prove a point. In this case, it’s about female empowerment in a patriarchal culture (i.e. Afghanistan) where women are routinely denied the same opportunities as men. Nowhere is that more true than it is in the area of education. Roya Mahboob (Boosheri, Circumstance) intends to change that one girl at a time. A staunch advocate for women’s education, the self-taught computer expert decides to start a robotics team consisting of young girls. It’s a risky move in a country under constant threat by the Taliban, but Roya believes in her cause. Sometimes the rules have to be broken in order to be fixed.
Many girls take the qualifying test, but only four are chosen to be on the team. They are Taara (Hosseinzadeh), a skilled mechanic who helps her father build engines in his shop; Esin (Afzali), a devout sort under the thumb of her uncle who rules his family with an iron fist; Sabine (Saraj), a video game enthusiast who just wants to drive fast and Haadiya (Rowe), a food delivery driver who poses as a boy to help her family. They all have their reasons for saying no at first, but they predictably come around by the time the first team meeting takes place.
After the whole gender thing, the biggest challenge faced by the Afghan Dreamers is not knowing a thing about robotics. They’re starting from scratch. On top of that, they have just two weeks to prepare for their first big match in Albuquerque. That’s not all. They run into more problems while trying to get the necessary permits to travel. A call from Roya to an American journalist takes care of all that BS.
Directed by Bill Guttentag (Knife Fight), Rule Breakers is as routine and predictable as inspirational BOATS come. We already know the outcome and not just because it’s a true story. If it didn’t have a happy ending, why would anybody bother making a movie about it? Nobody wants to pay good money to be bummed out. I don’t mind the predictability factor at all. What I do mind is how the makers get there. There are some real storytelling deficiencies here. Guttentag jumps right from young Roya eavesdropping on a boys-only computer class in 1999 to her setting up a computer for a local businessman in exchange for screen time (forbidden to women by law) in 2012. How did she learn about computers? What obstacles did she have to overcome? What does her family think about it? It’s never explained beyond a throwaway line about her father always saying yes to her.
Guttentag makes an even bigger mistake in minimizing the threat the Taliban represents. I never felt a palpable sense of danger despite the bombing that claims the life of a supporting character. It seems like Rule Breakers goes out of its way to spare us the ugly parts of the story. It doesn’t even make too big a deal out the negative reception they receive at home after winning their first medal. It’s reduced to a threatening letter, nasty tweets and Esin’s uncle dragging her out of the victory party. A few scenes later, it’s all forgotten and the team starts gearing up for the next competition.
Boosheri, Iranian by heritage, does excellent work as Roya who was subsequently named as one of New York Times magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. She plays Roya as a pillar of strength who wants to set a positive example for young Afghan girls. Sadly, the screenplay doesn’t always do her character justice. It shortchanges her with a superfluous subplot about a job offer that will require her to relocate to America. It’s mentioned only to be dropped and forgotten until the titles right before the credits. The same goes for her relationship with Samir (Fazal, Victoria & Abdul), the Afghan-American businessman who provides most of the team’s funding. What’s their deal? None of this is the actress’ fault. Boosheri does solid work as do the actresses playing her girls. Hosseinzadeh, in particular, is terrific as Taara who delivers a tearful inspirational speech after a major setback.
Typical of the genre, Rule Breakers has scenes designed to make audiences cheer for the resourcefulness and resilience of the team. When they’re told there aren’t enough seats for all of them on the plane to Kabul, one of them asks other passengers to give up their seats in the name of national pride. It works, of course. It’s a good scene even if it isn’t original.
It’s not a perfect film by any means, but Rule Breakers is watchable without being groundbreaking. It doesn’t redefine the BOATS genre, but it doesn’t insult it either. It means well which is a huge point in its favor. I must admit I bought into it much of the time. What can I say? I’m a sucker for tales where somebody sticks it to the establishment.
