Hit the Road

An eccentric family takes a road trip through sun-drenched Iranian landscapes to a mysterious destination in Panah Panahi’s auspicious first feature. Under normal circumstances, this bunch probably would be rooted at home, with its grumpy patriarch uncomfortable in a full-leg cast. But as the mother worries that they are being followed, the eldest brother pensively drives on, rarely stopping even to stretch. Only the irrepressible younger son, a little boy embracing adventure, enjoys the journey, unaware that his big brother is fleeing trouble. Panahi, the son of auteur Jafar Panahi, makes an assured debut with this gorgeously lensed feature.