Hiding Divya Reviews

Though the leads make for a believable family unit, the performances in writer-director Rehana Mirza's thin-skinned, no-frills drama unevenly range from functional to histrionic.

Full Review

Hiding Divya is so consistently sterile and unabashedly TV-movie-like that when the one great moment in the film comes around, it awakens you like a defibrillator.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4

In the end, you're none the wiser about mental illness or even about these characters.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5

Unfortunately Palini and her problems -- and her daughter, Jia, and her problems -- tend to overwhelm the story.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

A bit more clarity would have left fewer questions lingering.

Full Review | Original Score: C+

The plot is full of hackneyed characters and contrived events better suited to TV than the big screen.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

Although well-meaning in its attempt to dramatize the stigma the subject evokes in the South Asian American community, Hiding Divya ultimately falters in its execution.

Full Review

Bravo to Rehana Mizra for making such an impressive writing and directorial debut here, crafting a poignant, character-driven drama bravely tackling a taboo subject in such an absorbing, entertaining and ultimately satisfying fashion.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4

Graced with a decisive tough love empathy and sensitivity, the significance of this story for the greater healing and collective understanding of an entire community, could not be more urgent and resonant.

Full Review

Director Rehana Mirza Talks Stress, Taboo And Indian Culture In Hiding Divya

Full Review

Intimate indie about a disaffected desi in Edison, N.J., who with her 16-year-old daughter must face her own mother's ever-more-evident mental illness.

Full Review