43/10
Three members of an extended Afghan family start their lives over in Iran as refugees, unaware that they will have to struggle for decades to be “home.” I watched this film at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Told in three stories, “In the Land of Brothers” manages to capture the essence, complications, and heartbreaking scenarios of political conflict, relationships, culture, and 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 coming across as cheesy and over the top. Each of the characters and the writing are handled with maturity, and all of the performances from the cast members are good. They really brought out the emotions between the characters and the heart of the film’s message and purpose. The camerawork, production designs, and soundtrack are beautiful. There were touching moments, and I felt sadness while watching it. Personally, the first and third stories are the most memorable. Although the second one has some pacing flaws, it was still good. Overall, the film strives to be another good Iranian film.
