The Persian Version review – feelgood Iranian-American comedy with edge

A perceptive and candid look at mother-daughter discord drives the boisterous energy of Maryam Keshavarz’s comic crowdpleaser

The only daughter in a family of nine Iranian-American siblings, Leila’s (Layla Mohammadi) relationship with her mother, Shireen (Niousha Noor), was strained even before she got pregnant after a one-night stand with a drag artist. But, Leila learns, the wedge between them has its roots in a family scandal in rural Iran from before she was even born. With its boisterous, excitable energy and highly spiced colour palette, The Persian Version initially comes across as a broadly comic crowd-pleaser: a kind of My Big Fat Iranian Unplanned Pregnancy.

But there’s rather more to it than crass cultural stereotype. Maryam Keshavarz’s drama is an astute dissection of mother-daughter discord; it’s perceptive and candid in its insights into the push-pull cultural struggle experienced by second-generation immigrants. And it features an infectiously joyous extended family dance sequence set to Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Want to Have Fun. If the final act overdoes it a little with the wackily-ever-after feelgood vibes, Mohammadi’s flippantly acidic to-camera commentary emphasises the sharp edges within the family embrace.