Parents' Guide to Raazi

This Bollywood spy thriller takes due care when examining a citizen's unquestioning devotion to their country during wartime. In Raazi, various characters' dedication to their homeland above all else leads people on both sides -- India and Pakistan -- to sacrifice relationships and even people, for their cause. Director Meghna Gulzar understands the emotional effect this can have. The turmoil that regular student Sehmat goes through after she's plucked from her studies and trained as a spy is what makes the film such a thoughtful reflection on the horrors of war, rather than an action-packed espionage thriller.

Bhatt is great as Sehmat. It's a tough watch when she's wailing in the shower after her first kill, a far cry from the cool, calm, quipping killer we often see among James Bond and his type of movie spy. Raazi is a tense, compelling, sometimes exciting, and ultimately sobering look at the consequences of war. At times it feels like it's defending the idea that the country comes first above all else, leaving a slight chill as the credits roll. People who have experienced war might well understand the movie better than those thankful to have never been asked to make such sacrifices.