I feel like this review needs a huge amount of context on PTA and his previous films to create any sort of justification for this film. That... that does not seem like a good movie to me.
I think you’re mistaking the review for the movie. The review is written for people with that deep context and with an interest in peeling back all the layers PTA put in his movie. The movie itself works well as an action movie, and works very well as a meditation on the way parents burden their kids, and so on.