Ava Maria Safaid debut with her horror film Foreigner is sure to make waves. This standout exploring the Iranian diasporic experience is the opposite of Juliet and the King, which I reviewed a few days ago. While I’m more familiar with the mythic world of ancient Persia, this story echoes the dilemmas once faced by figures like Siavash and Mithra. Here, Yasamin (played with quiet intensity by Rose Dehgan) is an Iranian teenager whose family has moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, in search of a new beginning.
At home, Persian customs remain strong. But outside those walls, the world she faces is confusing and often against who she is. Her tale is the classic Hero’s Journey, with challenges that are both spiritual and social. Like Siavash, she wants to be seen for who she truly is—but has to prove herself in a place that doesn’t really get her. And like Mithra—a figure from an old Persian religion that isn’t really practiced anymore but still symbolizes things like truth and justice—she’s stuck between family traditions, society’s expectations, and figuring out her own identity. It’s that old struggle of holding on to who you are when everything around you says to change.