My Pure Land review – teenage girls wield guns against bandits in masala western

Directed by British-based Sarmad Masud and shot on location in Pakistan, this modern-day masala western finds a two feisty young teenage girls and their mother fighting off a bandit army, led by the girls’ uncle, determined to take the women’s home by force. Via a clean blend of arthouse mannerisms and action-movie suspense, this based-on-a-true-story lesson in practical feminism reveals how the sisters learned shooting and self-defence in preparation for a day like this from their ill-fated father (Syed Tanveer Hussain). (Opening titles explain that land disputes such as this are relatively common in Pakistan and often victimise single women who have inherited property.) Lithe but steely-gazed Suhaee Abro impresses most as the eldest daughter, Nazo, who develops a cool head and the heart of a lioness, unwilling to let conventional wisdom or simply long odds defeat her. Masud pays homage to the filmmaking traditions of the region and to the many classic Hollywood films about homesteads, saloons and police precincts under siege.