A young girl is focused on getting a Simba Happy Meal toy while her father schemes. Her mother tries to rustle up specialised foods for Nowruz, the Persian New Year, but is nervous about community-based shopping. If you didn’t know that Noora Niasari’s gripping domestic thriller was drawn from life, these poignant details give the film away.
Realism and deft timing power along the semi-autobiographical Shayda, based on the Iranian-Australian’s childhood experiences.
Holy Spider’s Zar Amir Ebrahimi is tremendous as the title character, a young mother who has taken refuge from her abusive husband, Hossein (Osamah Sami), in a Brisbane women’s shelter. The film opens with Shayda running drills with her daughter, Mona (Selina Zahednia), as they rehearse what to do if the child’s father tries to flee the country with her. Hossein, a medical student about to graduate, wishes to return to his home country, where a divorce will give him full custody of Mona.
When he finally appears he promises he can change, but his late arrival and offhand remarks about Shayda’s attire wave the first of many red flags. Later, he follows his wife with a camera, in an uneasy sequence that punctures any hope for his redemption.
Despite the presence of the refuge den mother, Joyce (Leah Purcell), and girlie dance-offs to Iranian pop, the centre is an uneasy space.
The cinematographer Sherwin Akbarzadeh seeks out menace: every nearby parked car may pose a threat. Shayda is scolded by her family and chastised by her mother over the phone. She tentatively attempts to rebuild her life, regardless.
Each positive step – the possible romantic attentions of Farhad (Mojean Aria), a party with friends – is negated by the escalating actions of her ex-husband. Niasari, who writes and produces as well as directing, racks up the tension to match his psychopathy in this sure-footed debut feature.
Shayda opens in selected cinemas on Friday, August 2nd
