Netflix’s comedy film Best of the Best has faced criticism online over a dialogue that references the chaotic evacuation from Kabul following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. The line appears in a conversation involving Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s character Maya, who compares unwanted male attention to being “the last plane out of Kabul.”
The reference has prompted some viewers to accuse the film of making light of a traumatic event. Social media users have pointed to the images and reports from August 2021, when thousands of Afghans and foreign nationals gathered at Kabul airport attempting to leave the country amid the Taliban takeover.
Several posts criticised the filmmakers and Netflix, arguing that the evacuation involved real human suffering and should not be reduced to a comedy reference. Some viewers have also called for an acknowledgment or apology over the dialogue.
Best of the Best, which began streaming on Netflix on September 18, follows childhood friends Maya and Anjali as they join a competitive Bollywood-fusion dance team at UCLA. The film explores friendship, sisterhood and the South Asian American experience.
The controversy centres specifically on whether the Kabul reference is appropriate in a comedy setting. The 2021 evacuation included scenes of people desperately trying to board departing aircraft, while an ISIS-K suicide bombing near the airport also killed civilians and US service members.
As of the latest reports, Netflix, director Lena Khan and co-writer Hasan Minhaj have not publicly responded specifically to the criticism surrounding the dialogue.
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