The screenplay by Abi Morgan and Laura Jones and the understanding direction by Sarah Gavron effectively focus on key aspects of the meaningful story. Nazneen, a wife and mother played revealingly by the lovely actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, is repressed in the way that women of her background are thwarted. She has yet to experience the joys of romantic love. She is married to a man who controls her and expects what a good wife is supposed to be.

What elevates the drama is that the husband, for all his faults, is not an ogre. Chanu, acted complexly by Satish Kaushik, is struggling to get ahead in London against odds stacked against him. He has to keep up a front for his dignity, yet is hurting from his inability to advance despite his hopes for a promotion. He finally feels impelled to return to Bangladesh and wants his family to go with him.

Meanwhile, Nazneen has met Karim, a handsome young man to whom she is attracted and with whom she has an affair, played effectively by Christopher Simpson. Karim is a militant Muslim. Chanu, no fool, realizes what is going on. Karim’s politics leads to discussion about different Muslim viewpoints, which gives the film an extra dimension. Karim wants Nazneen to break free and marry him.

A friend helps start Nazneen earning money by sewing, frowned upon by her husband. Her life is building into a crisis, as she will have to decide on whether to strike an independent role for herself, or tag along back to Bangladesh. Her teenage daughter definitely doesn’t want to leave London. The film is structured upon the background of Nazneen in her home country, involving tragedy for her mother during Nazneen’s childhood and a sister who has slid into a life as a prostitute.