Secret Superstar is promoted as a family film, but it's not. In fact, families might find it uncomfortable watching it together, given that at it's core, the film is about domestic violence. The Cinderalla story of a girl from a lower middle class Muslim family realizing her dream of becoming a successful singer is but sugar coated capsule to deliver the message. The violence is introduced 5 minutes into the film, when the mother first appears on the screen with a black eye. The audience instantly knows what's happened and shadow of this violence darkens the screen all the way through. When we meet the father, he's chilling. Cold, cruel, yet banal. He's mean for the sake of being mean. Like when he breaks his daughter's guitar strings or when he tells her to throw away her laptop. He's a misogynist. He wants to hurt and humiliate his daughter and wife for no other reason than that they are women. Total sicko.