Hit the Road

Son of the legendary Iranian director Jafar Panahi (still suspended from filmmaking but still making films), Panah Panahi has made a terrific first feature that will make you laugh and break your heart, frequently at the same time. A family—grumpy Dad (Hassan Madjooni), caring Mom (the amazing Pantea Panahiha), adult son (Amin Simiar), and mischievous tyke (scene-stealer Rayan Sarlak)—are on the road in a borrowed SUV. Where they are going and why they are travelling are slowly revealed to us—but it’s the journey, full of hilarious scenes that eventually gain weight and substance, that marks this as a major debut.

‘The quiet, low-key masterpiece of the year… Part of the joy of “Hit the Road” is submitting semi-blindly to wherever it takes you… Once you’ve seen this deft blend of genres and tones, all of the inspired laughter and the lumping of throats, you see exactly how “Hit the Road” fits all of its elements together with remarkable seamlessness. It helps that the movie balances a sense of grace and gravitas without sacrificing either, while demonstrating the younger Panahi’s talent for knowing exactly how to compose within a frame.’—David Fear, Rolling Stone