Pakistan-born Changez Khan is a talented young man with a bright future who turns a Princeton degree into a successful career as a Wall Street analyst and finds love with a beautiful photographer, Erica. But Changez’s life takes a dramatic turn in the wake of 9/11, as he faces racial prejudices in America and pursues a career as a radicalized university professor in his native Lahore.

Based on the celebrated bestseller by Mohsin Hamid, Mira Nair’s delicate, multilayered adaptation examines the complex and globally contentious ideas and ideologies of the post-9/11 world. Fueled by superb performances from Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber and Martin Donovan, The Reluctant Fundamentalist is replete with scenes both familiar and unique. Nair takes us on a thought-provoking personal and political exploration of issues we think we understand but are perhaps polarizing beyond comprehension. With her own inestimable style and intelligence, she has fashioned a resonant examination of a decade of change: the world we came from, the world we currently live in and its affect on us all.

—Geoffrey Gilmore

Directed by

Mira Nair