In his debut feature, His Father’s Son (2024), Iranian Canadian filmmaker Meelad Moaphi turns a modest inheritance into a mirror reflecting decades of family history, cultural identity, and unspoken truths.
The film, which won the Reel Asian Audience Award and earned Moaphi the DGC Ontario Award for Best Direction in a Feature Film, follows two very different brothers whose lives are suddenly disrupted by the unexpected news of an inheritance.
His Father’s Son quietly unpacks the tensions and affections that bind immigrant families together, and sometimes pull them apart.
Story at a Glance
Amir (Alireza Shojaei) is a talented chef in Toronto, more comfortable experimenting with Italian recipes than embracing the Persian dishes of his upbringing. His father, Farhad (Gus Tayari), a man steeped in tradition, struggles to understand Amir’s choices, both in career and in life. Mahyar (Parham Rownaghi), Amir’s brother, was born in Canada and seems to carry the ease and approval Amir has always longed for.
When the brothers learn of a $1 million inheritance from Parviz, a family friend in Iran, the news stirs more than financial curiosity. Questions about the mysterious benefactor bring to the surface long-buried family tensions, cultural expectations, and the unspoken distance between father and son.
Set in a mix of cozy Toronto kitchens, bustling streets, and intimate family gatherings, the film unfolds at an unhurried pace, reflecting how families often navigate their biggest conflicts not in fiery confrontations, but in everyday interactions layered with history. The inheritance becomes less about money and more about the stories, loyalties, and cultural roots that shape who we become.
Family Roots as the Emotional Core
At its heart, His Father’s Son isn’t a mystery about a will; it’s an exploration of what we inherit beyond money: culture, values, and the emotional patterns passed down through generations.
Cultural Identity and Generational Gaps
Amir’s love for Italian cuisine, while a point of pride for him, becomes a quiet source of disappointment for Farhad. In Farhad’s eyes, food is a vessel for preserving Persian heritage, and Amir’s detour into another culinary tradition feels like a rejection of his roots.
Mahyar, though born in Canada, seems to carry more of their father’s approval, underscoring the unspoken hierarchies that can exist within immigrant families.
Secrets and Silence in Family Relationships
The inheritance functions as a catalyst, forcing the family to reckon with a history that has been selectively told. As the brothers piece together the connection to the benefactor, they encounter a wall of silence, moments when Farhad says little, but his pauses and expressions speak volumes.
This unspoken language reflects a common immigrant reality: some stories are too painful, too complicated, or too culturally entangled to share openly. Through these dynamics, Moaphi shows how heritage isn’t just passed down through traditions and celebrations, but also through the tensions, omissions, and compromises made along the way.
Character Dynamics that Reveal Heritage
The relationships in His Father’s Son show how culture, identity, and family expectations come together. Each connection reveals a different side of what it means to hold on to or move away from one’s roots.
Amir and Farhad: The tension between father and son runs deep but is rarely loud. Farhad’s stern demeanour masks a quiet pride in Amir’s ambition, even if he disapproves of its direction. Their interactions are marked by measured words and long silences, a reflection of both generational and cultural communication styles.
Amir and Mahyar: While sibling rivalries in cinema often lean on bitterness, the brothers’ relationship is more layered. There’s affection and mutual understanding, but also the subtle undercurrent of inequality. This unspoken imbalance shapes how each brother navigates the inheritance and their shared past.
Arezou’s Role: As the mother, Arezou operates in the spaces between conflict. She is both a mediator and an emotional anchor, smoothing over disputes while quietly influencing the emotional temperature of the household. Her role highlights how women in immigrant families often carry the responsibility of preserving harmony while balancing tradition and adaptation.
Moaphi’s Storytelling Approach
Subtlety over Melodrama
From the first frame, Meelad Moaphi signals that His Father’s Son will not be driven by shouting matches or sweeping emotional climaxes. Instead, the film builds tension through restraint, quiet conversations in kitchens, pauses that linger just long enough to feel heavy, and unspoken exchanges that say more than words could. This choice mirrors the emotional reality of many families, where conflicts often simmer under the surface rather than erupt dramatically.
Visual and Tonal Choices
The cinematography leans toward intimate framing, often placing characters within the same shot even when they feel miles apart emotionally. Toronto’s multicultural backdrop is present but never showy; it’s there in the details: a Persian phrase in a conversation, a spice jar in the kitchen, the sound of street life outside a restaurant.
Restaurant scenes become symbolic crossroads, where Amir’s Italian culinary passions meet the pull of his Persian heritage. Food is a visual metaphor for identity, adaptation, and the blending (or resisting) of traditions.
Critical Reception and Impact
His Father’s Son is widely praised for its nuanced and authentic portrayal of an Iranian-Canadian family grappling with hidden secrets, cultural identity, and complicated familial dynamics.
Reviewers commend Moaphi’s confident direction and well-paced screenplay that builds emotional tension subtly rather than relying on melodrama. However, some critics highlight uneven character development, especially Amir’s emotional arc, and occasional uneven pacing or editing choices that detract from the film’s overall impact.
The film’s minimalist visual and sound design supports its themes but also risks feeling visually subdued. Despite minor flaws, His Father’s Son resonates as a thoughtful drama exploring legacy, identity, and the unspoken tensions within families.
Andrew Parker (thegate.ca): Praises the film’s restrained yet powerful approach to revealing family secrets and immigrant identity without resorting to melodrama. Highlights the authentic cultural perspective and strong performances, especially Alireza Shojaei as Amir. Appreciates the film’s slow-building tension and naturalistic family dynamics. Notes the ending feels a bit abrupt, but finds the overall pacing and framing expert.
Colin Biggs (thatshelf.com): Commends Moaphi’s authentic depiction of an Iranian-Canadian family and the film’s focus on intimate family conversations, especially the tension between Amir and his father, Farhad. Highlights strong performances and the film’s exploration of immigrant dreams versus parental expectations. Criticizes the limited development of Amir’s girlfriend Dina’s character and suggests the film is tightly paced, perhaps too much so, sometimes skipping emotional beats.
Steve Norton (screenfish.net): Finds the father-son tension palpable and the film’s interactions authentic and natural. Praises the cast’s chemistry, especially Shojaei and Tayari, for conveying the complexities of parental expectations and filial respect. Notes Moaphi’s script delves deeply into the emotional and psychological layers of fatherhood and legacy. Describes the film as truthful and well-executed.
Katharine Connell (The Globe and Mail): Highlights the theme of mutual unknowability between parents and adult children, and the film’s subtle approach to intergenerational tensions and cultural identity. Appreciates the restraint in storytelling but notes this sometimes results in a play-like, talk-heavy film with less visual or sensory engagement, especially given the culinary setting. Praises the film’s refusal to offer neat resolutions, opting instead for realistic ambiguity and emotional complexity.
Felix Hughes (nextmag.ca): Offers a more critical view, finding Amir frustrating as a protagonist due to underdeveloped emotional arcs and stilted acting, particularly in his vlogging scenes. Praises the screenplay’s tension around money and secrets, but criticizes editing choices that make scenes drag unnecessarily. Recognizes moments of directorial promise in the intimate kitchen scenes and praises Tayari and Rownaghi’s performances. Suggests the film shows potential but needs tighter execution and more nuanced character development.
Wrapping Up
Meelad Moaphi’s His Father’s Son is a quietly powerful exploration of family, culture, and the legacies we inherit beyond money or material wealth. Through its intimate storytelling, the film invites viewers into the complex emotional landscape of an Iranian Canadian family navigating the tensions between tradition and individuality.
By focusing on the subtle, often unspoken moments between fathers and sons, siblings, and parents, Moaphi reveals how identity is both a gift and a burden, shaped by what is said, what is withheld, and how we come to understand ourselves in relation to our roots.
The film’s strong performances, cultural authenticity, and restrained narrative style have resonated with critics and audiences, marking His Father’s Son as an important contribution to Canadian cinema’s ongoing conversation about immigrant experiences.
For anyone interested in stories about heritage, identity, and the delicate ties that bind us, His Father’s Son is a must-watch film that lingers long after the credits roll.