Actor Missy Malek Electrifies as ‘Tala’

While mainstream cinema often skirts contemporary society’s most fascinating mis-steps, the provocative short ‘Tala’ takes one such subject on with offbeat grace. A surrealist, political comedy about cultural appropriation , ‘Tala’ skewers a broad spectrum of modern foibles, including white liberal guilt, ethnic fetishization and the art world’s pretentious inhabitants — deliciously rich subjects all.

Anchored by the brilliant actor Missy Malek portrayal of the title character, the film exposes the feverish culture of politically correct lockstep with withering satirical accuracy. Set in an group exhibition gallery reception, Tala, an artist of Turkish-Moroccan descent, finds herself a negotiating a tangle of pompous, dismissive windbags, but after she steps out for a smoke and dons a scarf to protect herself from the rainfall, she returns to find the crowd transformed into a horde of fawning sycophants craving her approval simply because they assume that Tala is wearing a hijab.

Malek, an award-winning actor with a trove of theater and film credits, turns in a masterly performance as the socially awkward Tala. Her quiet authority and gift for subtle nuance lends her characterization an appealing immediacy, one that goes from bewildered disinterest to utter disdain as each of the attendees engages her in increasingly ludicrous conversations.

Although diminutive in stature, the striking Malek assumes a larger than life stature as she finds herself surrounded by a jabbering mob that ten minutes before all had ignored her. The ability to take command of this deliberately a bsurd setting highlights Malek’s creative sophistication and she pulls it off with impressive expertise. As the clamoring horde reaches frenzy pitch, Tala jerks the scarf from her head and lets it flutter to the ground, an expressively fluid gesture that crystalizes the ridiculous misplaced cultural fetishization which confronts her before exploding into a memorably climactic finish. Equally comfortable with high impact dynamism and understated summations of the human condition, Malek continues to impress as an actor of profound depth and skill. A must see.