The movie
Leila’s Brothers
At the age of 40, Leila has spent her entire life caring for her parents and four brothers. A family that is constantly arguing and under pressure from various debts in the face of sanctions against Iran.
Length: 160 min
Country: Iran
Language spoken: Persian
Language subtitles: Dutch
Cast: Taraneh Alidoosti, Saeed Poursamimi, Navid Mohammadzadeh, Payman Maadi,
Mohammad Alimohammadi
Director: Saeed Roustayi
Release date: 2022
Description
The third feature from Iranian writer-director Saeed Roustaee—whose terrific sophomore effort ‘Just 6.5’ was previously shown at Cinecitta—is a cracker: Leila (Taraneh Alidoosti, from Asgahr Farhadi’s ‘The Salesman’) dedicates her life to taking care of her parents and four brothers. In a country gripped by international economic sanctions and local corruption, Leila’s family is also burdened by debt, and everyone—save Leila—is trying anything, including scams and frauds, to make ends meet. And then Leila discovers that her father is hiding the possibility that he may become the new patriarch of the family clan…
‘Like a massive 19th century novel by Zola or Dickens condensed into a three-hour story… Filled with powerhouse turns by an ensemble cast, many of whom also starred in “Just 6.5,” “Leila’s Brothers” reveals the 32-year-old Roustaee to be a masterly, if aggressively unwieldy, filmmaker whose voice is clearly one to be reckoned with.’—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
‘Like a massive 19th century novel by Zola or Dickens condensed into a three-hour story… Filled with powerhouse turns by an ensemble cast, many of whom also starred in “Just 6.5,” “Leila’s Brothers” reveals the 32-year-old Roustaee to be a masterly, if aggressively unwieldy, filmmaker whose voice is clearly one to be reckoned with.’—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter
Reviews
"Big, absorbing, character-driven family drama”
