Angel Studios has been home to multiple successful projects over the last few years, with many of its movies and TV shows being religious-themed projects. This includes projects like The Chosen, a Christian drama about the life of Jesus Christ, and the controversial Sound of Freedom, their biggest box office hit, about human trafficking in Colombia. Recently, however, the media company has been expanding with movies whose religious themes are less overt, such as the post-apocalyptic film Homestead and the drama Brave the Dark.

The most recent of these is Rule Breakers

, directed by Bill Guttentag from a script he co-wrote with Elaha Mahboob and Jason Brown. It’s a film about the true story of the Afghan Dreamers, an all-girls robotics team in Herat. It follows Roya Mahboob (Nikohl Boosheri), a prominent tech company founder and girls’ computer teacher who puts the team together after a harrowing brush with death. With the support of many, she finds four girls whose knowledge of math and science is perfect for the team. They must also navigate the expectations of women in Afghanistan with their attempts to prove themselves in global robotics competitions.
Rule Breakers’ Story Is Uplifting & Empowering

The Movie Provides Feminist Messages About Determination

Rule Breakers is overtly about empowering women in Afghanistan, where many threats await those who break out of gendered norms. However, it also shows, through supportive male characters around Roya and her team, that men’s introspection is an important step toward equality. These important feminist messages weave their way into the story as the robotics team develops, proving themselves with increasingly complex creations as the film progresses. But the real focus is on its themes and how they tie into the team’s struggle to prove themselves to the world.

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Brave the Dark depicts the true events that brought a troubled young man out of his dark past and toward a brighter future thanks to a caring teacher.

The story beats are illustrative of the hardships women endure while trying to rise above their station. Although the movie is aimed at a general audience, it doesn’t hold back, especially as Roya’s team gets more eyes on them. This is complemented by strong performances from everyone in the film, with Boosheri standing out as she teeters between hope and despair as events unfold. The girls on the team also stood out, with every actor involved doing great work at showcasing their reactions to both difficult losses and triumphant wins.
Rule Breakers Needed More Time To Develop The Robotics Team

Lacking Characterization Makes The Movie Less Compelling

Despite being a good feminist movie with powerful messages about women’s empowerment, Rule Breakers suffers due to a lack of strong characterization for the robotics team. While the introductions to each girl promise a unique role on the team for each of them, the movie doesn’t take its time to establish their team dynamics. Instead, it’s preoccupied with showcasing the girls’ challenges and accomplishments in robotics as a team. These moments are central to the story and serve its themes well, but without strong characters, the important moments don’t land as hard as they could have.
The film does provide some development for a few members more than others, with Taara (Nina Hosseinzadeh) being one such standout. There are attempts to give the other girls the spotlight, with Esin (Amber Afzali) being of particular focus at various points. However, these aspects of characterization aren’t very strong, with the movie mostly centering its message and story over everything else. In those categories, the film is stellar, even if the lack of deeper focus on the girls as individuals left me wanting more.

It’s a heartwarming story that, despite focusing more on its themes than any other aspect, still delivers a memorable tale with roots in real life.

Despite the lack of strong characterization across the team, Rule Breakers still provides an uplifting story about women triumphing over their expected social roles on a global scale. It’s a heartwarming story that, despite focusing more on its themes than any other aspect, still delivers a memorable tale with roots in real life. It’s those real-world inspirations that make it shine all the brighter, even if a deeper focus on the characters would have been preferable.

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Rule Breakers

6/10

Release Date

March 7, 2025

Pros & Cons

A powerful message about female empowerment illustrated expertly through the film?s events.
Historical accuracy weaves with the dramatization in a strong, grounded way.

The girls on the robotics team feel interchangeable due to a lack of unique characterization.