by 
20/24
Three members of an extended Afghan family start their lives over in Iran as refugees, unaware that they are about to face a decades-long struggle for “home.” I saw it at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Told in three stories, “In the Land of Brothers” is able to capture the essence, complications, and heartbreaking scenarios of political conflict, relationships, culture, and harshness of reality. The filmmakers managed to capture the themes, tone, and writing style of each of the three stories with good emotions, interesting characters, and moments that felt tense and depressing without being cheesy and over the top. All the characters and script are handled with maturity, and all the acting is good. It really brought out the emotions between the characters and the core of the film’s message and purpose. The cinematography, production designs, and soundtrack are beautiful. There were touching moments and I was sad when I saw it. For me personally, the first and third stories are still the most influential. Even though the second part has some weaknesses in terms of rhythm, it is still good. Overall, the film should be another good Iranian film.