By: Malasha Parker
A shockingly heartbreaking story that has you guessing from beginning to end. The traumatic story of the day Myra (Innayah Umer) was late getting home from school takes viewers through a myriad of emotions and leaves audiences with a sinking, yet nauseating feeling by the time the credit’s roll. A film that exposes the blatant harassment of young girls, in a vision of colors, does not disappoint by getting its call to action across immediately upon finishing it. With a memorable performance from Umer, Don’t Be Late, Myra will make audiences talk. It will make audiences angry. And it wakes audiences back up to the way young girls are treated and seen through the eyes of predatory men.
When Myra misses the van home from school she has to take the walk through the town of Lahore. The trek involves her walking through the streets, getting onto trains and avoiding every man that tries to get her attention. There are ominous moments of Myra traveling through the town as men yell out, “Walking alone is not safe.” This happens as a man continues to harass the child while she says nothing in response. She moves through the town with her head wrapped and a focus only on her destination. One of the best directorial moments is when Myra moves past a window and you see the men in cars and on mopeds looking back at her constantly. It makes the viewer’s heart hurt to witness the character going through this.
While she’s on her way home, we see Myra’s mother (Nida Ahsan) call out for her. When she gets no answer, she then calls for Myra’s sister. When she is met with silence again, a desperate and terrifying look appears on Myra’s ill and bedridden mother. She tries her hardest to go find her children. After Myra’s long walk, she makes it home to deliver her mother’s medications. Unfortunately, she doesn’t make it to her mother and instead goes to find her sister and father. When her father opens the door her sister exits and tears spark to Myra’s eyes. There was a very sad and grave reason Myra wanted to make sure she wasn’t late arriving home from school. It’s a jarring scene when she confronts her father and the last moments of the film shows as Myra lays in a hue of red and yellow turning to blue and green. Myra imagines the balloons floating away as callback to something that she saw at the beginning of the film.
Director Afia Nathaniel’s film Don’t Be Late, Myra is a truthful, uncomfortable and uneasy film that confronts a long-standing situation head on. It’s the way Nathaniel’s own experience gives this film an authentic look at a sexual assault and harassment crisis that continues to be ignored across the world. It’s not new, but it gives you a new perspective and demands action. Innayah Umer is already a master at micro expressions, conveying so much without speaking. A well-written, directed and acted film tells a young ten-year-old’s heartbreaking and angering story.