Director: Florent-Emilio Siri
Some soldiers come home from war; this one never really leaves it, and that unfinished war is exactly what makes him someone worth hiring for a job nobody else wants.
What is Elyas about?
"Elyas" centers on a former Special Forces operative whose years in Afghanistan left him isolated, guarded, and increasingly paranoid long after the uniform came off. Struggling to fit back into ordinary life, he takes on a private security assignment protecting a woman named Amina and her young daughter Nour, a job that starts as routine surveillance and steadily reveals itself to be something far more dangerous. As threats against the family escalate, Elyas is forced to confront the instincts and damage the war left in him, using the same discipline that once made him effective on the battlefield to keep two civilians alive. The film builds tension through close-quarters action and quiet, tightly wound character work rather than large-scale spectacle, keeping its focus on a man trying to protect someone else while barely holding himself together. Roschdy Zem anchors the story with a performance built on restraint, letting the character's fractures show through small gestures rather than exposition.
Cast & crew
Roschdy Zem plays the title character, a former Special Forces soldier turned private protector, with Laëtitia Eïdo as Amina and Nabil Elouahabi in a supporting role. Sherwan Haji, Dimitri Storoge, and the rest of the ensemble round out the world Elyas is drawn back into.
Context & significance
Directed by Florent-Emilio Siri, known for tightly staged action thrillers, "Elyas" is a French production released in 2024 that folds post-war trauma into a protection-thriller framework rather than treating combat experience as pure backstory. The film's Afghanistan-veteran premise places it alongside a broader run of European thrillers examining how soldiers carry conflict home with them long after their service ends.
Where & how to watch
"Elyas" is available on K-Time with both Persian dubbing and Persian subtitles, so viewers can choose whichever format suits them best. Reading about the film here is free; watching it simply requires logging into a K-Time account, part of a Farsi-first streaming experience built for Persian-speaking audiences everywhere.