Leila’s Brothers

In this sprawling domestic drama, Saeed Roustaee constructs an engrossing narrative about the trauma of intergenerational conflict and financial struggle. Set amidst the economic uncertainty of contemporary Tehran, the film follows the intensifying efforts of Leila (Taraneh Alidoosti) to secure a stable professional future for herself and her four squabbling but loving brothers, pushing them to pool their resources and open a shop in a mall in an up-and-coming neighborhood of the city. All is thrown into turmoil when their narcissistic father grows desperate to be crowned the head of the extended family, requiring the bestowal of a large monetary gift that puts his children’s business plans into jeopardy. Roustaee paints on a large canvas, giving each character depth and nuance, while steadily building to a series of expertly crafted, sometimes wrenching emotional turnarounds. A genuinely anti-patriarchal epic, Leila’s Brothers won the FIPRESCI Critics’ Prize at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, though it remains banned from being screened in its home country.