Americanish or American.ish,however the title is read or presented (one finds it with both spellings) is a small, somewhat quirky, inconspicuous family drama that is marginally better than an American made-for television movie.

Like most TV movies, it is overly, and simply lit (one is hard-pressed to find shadows on the actors), makes do with few characters in a handful of locations and most importantly speaks about issues relevant to the story with just enough gusto that it doesn`t alienate any particular gender, ideology, sect or country.

For a film that is mostly made by and starring women the director is Iman Zawahry, who co-writes with lead actress Aizzah Fatima it makes sense to steer away from potential problems.

Americanish, therefore, concentrates mostly on the relationships of four women: a mother (Indian actress Lillette Dubey), a Pakistani woman whose husband left her to pursue a `gori` who doesn`t need taking care of, her two daughters and their cousin, who is visiting America to find a husband who is a doctor by profession.

The elder daughter, Sam (short for Sameem, played by Fatima), is a social media specialist who is handling a racist politician`s account (the actor is George Wendt). Sam dates without religious boundaries and is okay sleeping with boyfriends, but doesn`t want to commit until she finds the right man.

Sam`s liberalness, however, is not rubbing out on her young sister, Maryam (Salena Qureshi), a med student who likes a fellow student (Kapil Talwarkar) who is already engaged to another girl.

Between all three young women, Ameera (Indian actress Shenaz Treasury), the visiting cousin from Lahore, has the most unruffled, fairytale-like story: she is here to marry a man of Pakistani origin who is a doctor, finds the said doctor, but shares sparks with a local store-owner Gabriel Abdallah (actor-comedian Godfrey) an African-American Muslim who, at one point, tells her that he may be a better Muslim than Ameera when he says Insha Allah the words he knew the full meaning and connotation of quite well. In the scene, Ameera tells him to take his Insha Allah back, because in Pakistan, `God willing` usually accompanies bad intentions (say what?!).

This, and one other instance at the very end, however, are the only two references to religion we get in Americanish. The film`s story is not about what one believes in religiously, but about what independent women believe in, given their societal and cultural surroundings.

One can say that the film is also about female empowerment a term that gets thrown around a lot, especially here in the media.

However, given that the entirety of Americanish is set in America, a land where women are free to make their choices, and that the mother herself wants the daughters to show just enough cleavage to land a man (yes, there is an actual scene about it), one struggles to find the high point of any conflict in the story.

The newsflash, then, is that the film doesn`t have any earth-shaking conflicts. The biggest issue for Sam is moving out of the house but, when one gets to the end credits, one doesn`t really understand why.

The problems Maryam faces have to do with finding love, choosing to let go of her scarf, but yet still dressing conservatively (irrespective of her mother`s and sister`s wishes for her to show some skin), and making a choice about pursuing a happily married life or a career as a doctor.

Ameera`s story is the most appealing of the three because Treasury and Godfrey share excellent romantic chemistry.

One should also be keeping an eye out for Qureshi as an actress. Her turn from a meek, nerdy student who is already much more mature than her older sister, becomes the glue that holds Americanish together. Fatima and Dubey, in their unremarkableness, are fine as well.

In retrospect, that last statement applies overall to Americanish too. Thankfully, the film doesn`t propagate shallow, superficial, stereotypical narrative elements about women or the Pakistani diaspora, and the few it does indulge in blend seamlessly into the story the director, Zawahry, wants to tell.

One could recommend it for a watch overall it is not bad if one can disregard the made-for-TV look and feel.

Available to rent on most streaming platforms, and currently running in cinemas across Pakistan, Americanish is released by Sony Pictures and is rated PG.

It will likely not rub anyone the wrong way