Film
Waiting for Kiarostami
A intimate family drama set between China and Iran, following a medical student caught between her father's expectations and her dream of becoming an actress. Shot with the spare, observational style of Abbas Kiarostami, it's a quiet film about the weight of parental hope and the courage it takes to want something different. For anyone who recognizes themselves in that impossible choice.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like quiet, observant family dramas where the pressure comes from parents' hopes rather than big set-piece conflicts, and you're curious how a young woman's dream collides with her family's expectations.
Skip it if you want a plot that moves briskly, because this one lingers on conversations, auditions and rooms full of unspoken disappointment, and its stillness can feel like waiting itself.
What it asks of you: Ninety-two minutes of patient, conversational scenes that let silences do much of the work, rewarding steady, unhurried attention rather than constant engagement.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
A Separation2011
Asghar Farhadi's masterpiece about an Iranian family in moral crisis. Like Waiting for Kiarostami, it finds profound drama in domestic conflict and the gap between what people want and what they believe they should want.
But It's heavier and more legally procedural than you might expect. The middle section can feel like watching a custody hearing, which is partly the point, but not everyone's idea of cinema.
The Farewell2019
Lulu Wang's film about a Chinese family keeping a terminal diagnosis secret—it's also about the collision between duty and individual truth, and between cultures. The warm, funny parts make the sadness hit harder.
But If you come in expecting a tearjerker, you'll be wrong-footed by how much it makes you laugh. Some find that tonal mix strange rather than brilliant.
The Salesman2016
Another Farhadi, but rawer and angrier. A couple's marriage fractures after a violent incident; it's about shame, masculinity, and how families survive betrayal. The father-daughter dynamic carries real weight.
But It's darker and more claustrophobic than Waiting for Kiarostami. There's a sexual assault that haunts everything that follows. Not the film to watch if you need something light.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Waiting for Kiarostami
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Woman Without Piano2009
Both are about the weight of parental expectation on women, filmed with the observational clarity and moral seriousness that defined Kiarostami's late work. Both prize what characters don't say over what they do.
A documentary by Shirin Neshat about an Iranian-American woman's relationship with her mother, filmed during a visit to Tehran. It's a direct heir to Kiarostami's essay-film method—intimate, unsentimental, about what women want versus what family expects.
But It's a documentary, not a narrative fiction, so the rhythms are different. It's also frankly about Iran in ways that film can be unsettling. Requires openness to a different pace and formal approach.
More like this (8)
Anatomy of a Fall2023
Justine Triet's legal thriller about a marriage examined through courtroom testimony. Like this film, it's interested in the impossible truths families hold—what you say versus what you mean, duty versus desire.
But It's nearly three hours, and much of it is procedural dialogue. If you're hoping for a conventional thriller with clear answers, you'll leave frustrated.
Spotlight2015
Tom McCarthy's ensemble piece about journalists uncovering institutional abuse. It shares the patient, observational approach of Kiarostami—letting truth emerge slowly through conversation and pressure.
But It's methodical to the point of restraint. There are few dramatic crescendos; the power is cumulative, which means the first hour can feel slow.
The Son2022
Florian Zeller's portrait of a father and teenage son in crisis, adapted from his own play. It captures the claustrophobia of family conflict and the things parents and children cannot say to each other.
But It's bleak in a way that offers no comfort. If you're watching for catharsis or resolution, you won't find it, which is the point and possibly the problem.
Moonlight2016
Barry Jenkins' lyrical film about a Black boy becoming a man, told in three chapters. It's about choices foreclosed and desires hidden for survival. Formally beautiful and emotionally devastating.
But Its quietness and visual poetry won't speak to everyone. Some viewers find it too abstract; others wanted more plot and less mood.
Petite Maman2021
Céline Sciamma's magical-realist film about a girl who encounters her mother as a child in the woods. It's tender and strange, about how family bonds carry across time and understanding.
But The premise sounds whimsical, but the film is spare and unsentimental. If you want magical realism to feel enchanting rather than melancholic, look elsewhere.
Boyhood2014
Richard Linklater filmed over twelve years—same actor, real time passing. It's a portrait of growing up and the accumulation of small moments that make a life. About time, change, and what parents owe their children.
But It's deliberately uneventful. The whole point is that nothing much happens, which some find profound and others find tedious. Requires patience and attention.
Yi Yi2000
Both are structured around the collision between individual desire and family obligation, seen through the eyes of a younger generation watching their parents' compromises. Both trust the audience to find meaning in accumulation rather than climax.
Edward Yang's epic Taiwanese family saga spanning a year in one household—three generations, multiple crises, everyone wanting different things. It's long, digressive, and contains multitudes: the full texture of family life.
But It's 173 minutes, and nothing much happens in the plot sense. It's a film about the granular texture of living together, which requires a completely different kind of attention than narrative cinema demands.
The Worst Person in the World2021
Both are about young people at the crossroads of passion and duty, trying to figure out what wanting something means when everyone you love has expectations. This one just happens to be set in Oslo, with sex and rock music and laughter.
Joachim Trier's funny, heartbreaking film about a woman in her twenties moving between ambitions and relationships. It's about the impossible task of choosing yourself while loving others—the inverse of Dorsa's story, but the same central tension.
But It's sexy, modern, and Scandinavian—nothing like the restraint of Kiarostami. If you want a film that *feels* like Waiting for Kiarostami, this will disappoint you. But if you want the same question asked in a completely different register, it's here.
People
Cast
Homayoun ErshadiKoroush Sinaki- Ana BayatFariba Sinaki
- Dorsa SinakiDorsa Sinaki
- Randy WilliamsBusinessman
- Ding Wen QingLily