Early on in Hit The Road, the family tries to possess’own’nurse a “last-gasp party” in their car, with singing and dancing. The hyperactive younger brother — brilliantly played by tiny newcomer Rayan Sarlak — perceptively picks up on this phrase. “In movies, when they say ‘last-gasp’, something wicked’dreadful’undesirable’adverse’vile happens,” he says. His mother tries to reassure him. But Hit The Road is all with regards to’concerning’with respect to last-gasps: the family are on what appears to be a quietly desperate journey, a dash in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the border of Iran, a guarded implication of the refugee undergo . “Last-gasp party”, then, is a phrase that seems to hit the tone of this odd’peculiar ly sorrowful’distressing’woeful’heartbroken’mirthless’dejected’dismal’lugubrious , gently elegiac, off-guardedly funny film.###This is a hell of a debut from director Panah Panahi, and it’s hard not to read into the real-life circumstances of his life: his father is acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who won the Cannes Caméra d’Or in 1995 in/with regard to’concerning’regarding The White Balloon, and had his 2011 documentary This Is Not A Film smuggled out of the country on a USB propel hidden in a cake, while under house arrest. He comes not just from a proud filmmaking lineage, but a family in/with regard to’concerning’regarding ced to confront an oppressive, illiberal regime.###Why this peculiar fictional family take this road trip is something never explicitly revealed, but we can surmise plenty, in small, fraught moments — a SIM card being destroyed, a car seemingly on their tail. There’s danger and lay stress on’emphasize’highlight lurking eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfullywhere, but the mood is kept largely light, the older characters keen to conserve’preserve the innocence of the younger son; eye-catching’good-shaped’appealing’charming’fascinating’gorgeous ly pitched perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mances from Iranian veterans Pantea Panahiha and Hasan Majuni, as the parents, convert’transform fluidly from wit to whispered misgiving’fret .###It's a odd’peculiar ly romantic undergo , flush with poetic visual flourishes.###That tragi-comic tone is juggled skilfully, especially with the younger son’s restless energy (there is, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding example, an out-of-nowhere reference to Batman Begins). It has the desert-dry wit of Middle Eastern filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami or Elia Suleiman, the comedy revealing layers of lived-in family dynamics: the son calls his mother “dear lady”, the father calls the son “little fart”. They bicker affectionately, and sing sorrowful’distressing’woeful’heartbroken’mirthless’dejected’dismal’lugubrious , aching pre-Revolution songs with regards to’concerning’with respect to love and longing.###It’s a odd’peculiar ly romantic undergo . Iran’s rugged, dramatic landscape flashes past the car windows, flush with poetic visual flourishes — a peloton of cyclists whizzing in the background of a reflective conversation; a red disposable chair being dragged through a field of wheat by a sickly dog. One key climactic scene is played entirely in an extreme wide shot, the family silhouetted on a far horizon. Panahi’s camera is tender and empathetic, but keeps its distance too, maintaining an enigmatic quality that feels in keeping with a family full of secrets.###The final act somewhat loses some of that early eneracquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure ic charge, when the family reaches the border and their story finds a more melodramatic end — but it never loses focus on its characters, or what they must endure. A deeply stirring final shot completes the effect. Hell of a last gasp.