Sundance review: 'The Persian Version' is a loving, exuberant tale of three generations of women, and the secret they keep from each other

Sometimes a movie takes a few minutes to settle down and find its groove — which is what happens with “The Persian Version,” writer-director Maryam Keshavarz’s warm-hearted and regularly hilarious look at a woman trying to reconcile conflicting cultures and a hard case of a mom.

“Obviously, I’ve had some issues with culture,” are the first words we hear from Leila (Layla Mohammadi) — after we see her entering a Halloween party in half a burqa with a neon-pink bikini under it. “Can you blame me? I come from two countries that used to be madly in love with each other.” Those countries are the United States and Iran, and needless to say, the breakup was epically bad.

Leila explains how her father took the family from Iran to America in the ‘60s, to be a doctor in Brooklyn, and stayed after the revolution back home. Leila was the youngest of nine children, and the only girl — and a constant disappointment to her mother (Niousha Noor). Part of that attitude comes from the fact that Leila is a lesbian, recently divorced because she wanted to pursue her filmmaking career rather than settle down and have kids.

When her father (Bijan Daneshmand) goes into the hospital for a long-awaited heart transplant, and all the brothers go to sit with him, Mom demands that Leila stay home and tend to her grandmother, Mamanjoon (Bella Warda). This turns out to be propitious, because Mamanjoon lets slip that Leila’s parents left Iran because of “the scandal.” Of course, Leila is dying to know what the scandal was — and whether it helps explain why her mother is the way she is.

Keshavarz, whose 2011 Iran-centered lesbian drama “Circumstance” won the Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic films at Sundance, returns with an exuberant, Technicolor celebration of family — as Leila learns her family’s hidden history and finds connections to her own chaotic life. Leila is often told, “You’re just like your mother,” and even though she denies it vociferously, even she can’t deny the parallels. The story is based on Keshavarz’s own family story, which gives the movie a lived-in authenticity.

Mohammadi is a stunning discovery, beautiful and sharp and wickedly funny, and she commands the movie. She’s nicely matched with Noor and Warda, representing three generations of fierce and loving women — embodying the family bonds that make “The Persian Version” so charming.

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‘The Persian Version’

★★★1/2

Playing in the U.S. Dramatic competition of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Screens again Friday, Jan. 27, 2L15 p.m., The Ray Theatre, Park City. Not rated, but probably R for sexual content and language. Running time: 106 minutes.