The Persian Version
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 20, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
ColliderArezou AminOct 22, 2023
The Persian Version isn't quite the quirky family comedy the trailers make it out to be. It's funny, but it's also raw. It's emotional and heartwarming in its truths. It will also leave you wanting to call your mother. Read full review
90
Screen DailyAllan HunterFeb 1, 2023
The combination of exuberant energy, wise-cracking humour and warmhearted emotion makes for a captivating crowdpleaser. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comPeyton RobinsonOct 20, 2023
The Persian Version pulses with personality, striking an excellent balance between humor and heart. Read full review
80
Screen RantTatiana HullenderOct 28, 2023
The strength of The Persian Version lies in the impressions and feelings that it leaves behind, and the empowering portrait it paints of three generations of Iranian women. Read full review
80
Film ThreatAlan NgFeb 27, 2023
The Persian Version is a comedic and beautiful portrait of a Muslim immigrant family caught between the struggles of two cultures and two generations, featuring two outstanding performances that should not be missed. Read full review
75
Original-CinKim HughesOct 18, 2023
There is a lovely kookiness to The Persian Version which elevates an essentially straight-up mother-daughter conflict story with myriad snappy visuals and storytelling devices before settling into its main narrative trajectory, advancing the idea that we are all just doing the best we can with whatever tools we have. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshOct 25, 2023
Keshavarz spins a lot of plates in The Persian Version and we can see the effort, but she keeps them all in the air. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterLeslie FelperinJan 27, 2023
This lively, likable, if somewhat on-the-nose work grabs viewer attention with fourth-wall-breaking monologues, jocular explanatory graphics, and tightly choreographed dance numbers to vintage American and Iranian pop songs. Read full review
70
VarietyLisa KennedyJan 27, 2023
The Persian Version is a bit madcap and self-indulgent, not unlike its protagonist, before it settles into a groove that foregrounds Shirin. Read full review
67
The Film StageJohn FinkMar 9, 2023
This is much more than an ethnic family drama that aspires to have “cross-over universal” appeal, even as it generates such by throwing too many elements together alongside three unique, compelling stories. Read full review
63
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckOct 23, 2023
The rebelliousness of each of the strong women here — mother and daughter — somehow coalesces into understanding. Such moments can be sappy, but here, as with her lovely opening shot, Keshavarz does it well. She sticks the landing. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 18, 2023
It’s meandering and a little messy, and voice-over narrated almost to death. But the vivacious presence of newcomer Layla Mohammadi as spitfire daughter Leila and Liousha Noor as Shireen, her stern, disapproving “Strength of Silence” mother carry it with flashes of snark, spite and soul. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeMar 25, 2024
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. Read full review
60
The GuardianCath ClarkeMar 21, 2024
The Persian Version feels a bit soft focus some of the time, but it takes on real depth and force when the action hops further back, to 1960s Iran, where Shireen is a 13-year-old girl (now played by Kamand Shafieisabet). Read full review
60
New York Magazine (Vulture)Roxana HadadiOct 26, 2023
When The Persian Version shifts to the film-within-the-film Leila is writing and nudges her aside to tell her mother, Shireen’s, story, Keshavarz’s feature finds its performative core and explodes into emotional vibrancy. Read full review
60
The New York TimesAmy NicholsonOct 19, 2023
The result is a personal film that feels oddly impersonal. The tonal clutter overwhelms Keshavarz’s genuinely interesting story. Read full review
58
IndieWireSamantha BergesonNov 17, 2023
It is a fun time, just one that doesn’t need so many versions packed into it. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanOct 18, 2023
The Persian Version is an ambitious effort to suture up the rift between past and present, parent and child. But like its heroine, it also suffers from a bit of split personality. It’s a tale with too much drama for the candy-colored comedy of its telling, and too much comedy for the drama to leave much of a mark. Read full review
50
The PlaylistMarya E. GatesJan 27, 2023
There’s no denying the weight of The Persian Version’s final sequence. Yet, it’s an ending that feels rushed, both because of the sequence’s continual tonal shifts between heartfelt drama and slapstick comedy but also because Leila’s final bout of emotional maturity feels unearned. Read full review
49
Paste MagazineJacob OllerJan 27, 2023
The voiceover-heavy storytelling is exhausting and weightless, despite Keshavarz’s clear affection for and closeness to these women. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 24, 2023
The Persian Version tries to pivot and fashion itself as a celebration of women’s strength across the generations, but it’s transparently something else — a daughter’s attempt to come to terms with a problematic mother. And it’s an effort in which there can be no suspense because Keshavarz’s strenuous effort to whitewash mom tells us that the movie, and the relationship, can only resolve in one way. Read full review
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