The White Tiger 2021

The White Tiger only occurs once in 10,000 births naturally, so it’s a fitting title for this film’s protagonist, as someone deemed smart enough to have a shot at breaking through his social class. It’s an extraordinary character study. It’s not because it’s the most original story, because it would be easy to recognize how much of an underdog Balram Halwai is. It’s extraordinary because of the pulsing anger that bleeds through the dark humor, a refusal to sugarcoat that makes the film stand out. As Balram recalls the upper class family he used to work for, the drama dives deep into the systemic corruption that determines most people’s fate in India, with such a gripping direction that it’s hard to look away, even as it gets ugly.