21/17
Three members of a large Afghan family start their lives over in Iran as refugees, unaware that they are facing a decades-long struggle to be “home.” I watched it at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Told across three stories, “In the Land of Brothers” manages to capture the essence, complications, and heartbreaking scenarios of political conflict, relationships, culture, and the harshness of reality. The filmmakers managed to capture the themes, tone, and writing of each of the three stories with good emotion, interesting characters, and moments that felt tense and depressing without feeling corny or overdone. Each of the characters and the writing are handled with maturity, and all of the cast members’ performances are good. It really brought out the emotions between the characters and the core of the film’s message and purpose. The camerawork, production designs, and soundtrack are beautiful. There were moments that were touching and I felt sad watching it. Personally, the first and third stories remain the most impactful. Although the second one had some flaws with the pacing, it was still good. Overall, the movie strives as another good Iranian film.