A boisterous family is on a road trip across a rugged landscape in Panah Panahi’s exuberant, riotously funny, and ultimately moving debut film, a highlight from the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. In the back seat, Dad has a broken leg. Mom leads the family with spontaneous lip-synch performances, when she’s not trying to hold back tears. Their hyperactive younger son is trying the patience of everyone. All of them are fussing over the fate of the sick dog, Jessie, and getting on each other’s nerves. In the midst of this contained chaos, the adult son drives the car in silence, his eyes fixed on the road. The family’s motivations for undertaking the journey are hinted at as they cross the arid terrain, and gradually we come to appreciate the bass notes of melancholy that lie beneath their good natured bickering.

Notes by David O’Mahony