Mustache (film)

Mustache is a 2023 Pakistani-American comedy drama film written and directed by Imran J. Khan and starring Atharva Verma and Alicia Silverstone.

Premise
In the mid-1990s in Silicon Valley, Ilyas is a 14-year-old Pakistani-American who is forced to leave his private Islamic school to attend a public school. Adding to his struggles is a mustache that he has been growing since he was ten, to his chagrin.

Cast

 * Atharva Verma as Ilyas
 * Rizwan Manji as Hameed
 * Meesha Shafi as Asiya
 * Ayana Manji as Yasmeen
 * Shaheryar Rana as Musa
 * Mojeane Sadr as Sadia
 * Alicia Silverstone as Miss Martin
 * Melody Cao as Liz
 * Krishna Manivannan as Arun
 * Hasan Minhaj as Hasan
 * Esa as young Ilyas
 * Armaan Jawandha as Aasim

Release
The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 12, 2023.

Reception
Mimi Calzada of The Daily Texan gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Mustache makes for an outstanding directorial feature debut from Imran Khan, which hugely benefits from Verma’s charming and endearing performance. Easily relatable, laugh-out-loud funny and downright delightful, Mustache solidifies itself as one of the best films in the SXSW 2023 lineup."

Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a positive review and wrote, "A religion-themed comedy can be a tricky proposition, even if the tone is predominantly respectful, but Khan strikes a satisfying balance between satire and deference that’s enjoyable without excessively pushing boundaries."

The film won the Audience Award in the Narrative Feature competition at South by Southwest.