“Rules are made to be broken” means it is acceptable to disregard or deviate from rules under certain circumstances, often implying a rebellious or adventurous spirit, or that some rules are outdated or unjust and should be challenged to foster progress and innovation. A group of teenage girls from Afghanistan did the same which is the theme of the award-winning inspiring film “Rule Breakers”. In 2017, the Afghan girls tried to travel to the U.S. to participate in a robotics competition. It became headline news. They were denied visas twice but got after Trump also then the US President intervened.
An exuberant new movie, “Rule Breakers,” tells the team’s backstory and also what happened next. The story starts with a Taliban firing at three siblings – Roya, Elaha, and Ali Mahboob – while they are driving across an arid plain when a car pulls up alongside. A gunman leans out the window and starts shooting. The girls survived by fluke because the rifle malfunctions. They were attacked as Roya (Nikohl Boosheri) has been teaching young girls how to use computers. She’s established 10 classrooms in the cities of Herat and Kabul. In a bid to garner funding from investors, Roya decides to form an Afghan girls’ robotics team that will compete internationally. “Knowledge is power,” Roya tells the girls in one of her classes. “This is no longer our fathers’, our grandfathers’ Afghanistan. This is our Afghanistan, too.”
Filmed in Morocco and Hungary, the “Rule Breakers” fits the bill. There are a few scenes depicting violence in war-torn Afghanistan, but nothing too graphic. The first 25 minutes of the movie are fairly serious and barely hint at the central story. There are exposition-laden flashbacks to Roya’s childhood, in which she’s banished from the classroom while the boys are taught how to use computers. Later, at university, Roya complains to an administrator, “We have five classes a day on Sharia law and zero on computers.” She successfully petitions the university to change its policy. Despite Roya’s reputation for rule breaking, her brother Ali (Noorin Gulamgaus) balks at her latest idea of launching a robotics squad. The film is PG rated which means “Parental Guidance Suggested,” as some material may not be suitable for children, and parents should consider if the content is appropriate for younger or sensitive viewers. In the 2025 film Rule Breakers, a blast scene occurs at a mosque in Afghanistan where a team member’s father is killed. And this became a turning point.
“Don’t say it,” Roya tells Ali. “You might as well start the Afghan girls’ ice hockey team.” Ice hockey does not even exist in Afghanistan and girls are not allowed in any sports. The fun begins when the two siblings visit the homes of promising students they’d like to recruit. Taara (Nina Hosseinzadeh), the daughter of a car mechanic, aspires to become a mechanical engineer. Ace coder Haadiya (Sara Malal Rowe) wants to launch her own company. Mathematics whiz Esin (Amber Afzali) wishes to study in Britain and earn a doctorate. Video gamer Arezo (Mariam Saraj), chosen to pilot the remote-controlled robots, dreams of owning a red Mustang, the sporty car. The first order of business for the newly formed team is googling “how to build a robot.” They only have two months to prepare before competing in Washington.
“Rule Breakers” is more interested in the domestic affairs of Afghanistan. The contestants’ families fret that they’ve given the girls too much freedom. When Esin is photographed touching a male competitor from the Netherlands while signing his shirt, it causes a scandal back home. Worse? Taliban insurgents engage in reprisals. The storyline is set just a few years prior to the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. “Rule Breakers” foreshadows the return of the Taliban and its silencing of women – banning education after age 12, and forbidding them from speaking in public (or to one another) or showing their faces. It’s a vast relief when the end titles inform viewers that these young women, at least, escaped to the U.S. and Europe.
Mostly, “Rule Breakers” is as joyful as its standout score by Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal. You’ll root for the immensely likable team as they become immersed in the world of competitive robotics. Call it the nerd Olympics. Teams of students from all over the world construct robots capable of performing tasks such as scooping up balls and throwing them into baskets. In an unbilled cameo, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag,” “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”) plays a competition host who tells the teams.
That’s about as profound as “Rule Breakers” gets. It doesn’t offer revelatory cultural insight. Often, the script is too on-the-nose with overly earnest dialogue. But what the film does really well is showcase Roya and her students as role models for making a difference in the world. Breaking free of a society with rigid ideas about masculine and feminine roles, they fully embodied their humanity and enriched a society determined to partition women. It is a feel-good movie poignantly set against the heartbreaking current reality of Afghan women. The movie more than fulfills Angel Studios’ mission to “amplify light.”
Actor Ali Fazal, the versatile star from India, was extended a special invitation by UK Parliament Member Alice McDonald for the screening of his international film Rule Breakers, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Bill Guttentag. The exclusive screening was followed by an engaging panel discussion with the film’s star cast, where Ali joined the director to share insights on the making and message of the project. The film was released in March this year.
The renowned actor from India, Ali Fazal who starred in the film Rule Breakers was invited to the UK Parliament for the screening of Rule Breakers, a rare honour. With Rule Breakers, Ali Fazal once again cements his standing as an actor who effortlessly balances Indian and international projects, while continuing to take Indian talent to the global forefront. Ali Fazal played the character Joy Lobo, an aspiring Engineering student (who died by suicide in the film) in the 2009 film 3 Idiots, a role that was his Bollywood debut. (Himalayan News Chronicle)
