A Tale of Shemroon

Emad Aleebrahim-Dehkordi's feature debut came across as authentic and truthful thanks to decent cinematography and brilliant acting performances. What is at the center "A Tale of Shemroon" is the loving relation between Iman and Payar who respect and help each other despite their differences, which is beautifully portrayed by the two main actors. The typical trope of one troubled brother and the other one being good and obedient is broken by the fact that Iman indeed does sell drugs, but uses the money to help his father, eventhough he banished him from home - I particularly appreciated this part of the story, because it has shown that not everything is black and white. Eventhough this picture has some bumps on the way, e.g. Some cuts from scene to scene doesn't feel organic and the ending could have escalated much more powerfully, I would still recommend it as it was tense and gripping.