Director: Kamal Tabrizi

Cast: Mehran Modiri, Leila Hatami, Pejman Jamshidi, Mani Haghighi, Javad Ezzati

Maa Hame Ba Ham Hastim is a 2019 Iranian dark comedy film directed by Kamal Tabrizi, running 89 minutes and featuring an ensemble of the country's most recognizable screen talent in a sharp, satirical story about desperation, greed, and the absurdity of the human will to survive.

What is Maa Hame Ba Ham Hastim about?

The bankrupt owner of a struggling airline devises a scheme that sounds outlandish even by the standards of corporate desperation: load a decrepit passenger jet with people who have nothing left to live for, crash it into the Gulf, and collect the legal compensation owed to victims' families. The passengers — each carrying their own private reasons for welcoming the end — sign on willingly. The plan proceeds smoothly right up until an oblivious traveler named Ali Hajati boards the flight with no knowledge of what awaits him. His unwitting presence upends the careful arrangement, and what follows unfolds simultaneously in two locations: aboard the doomed aircraft and in a mysterious interrogation room where the airline's owner and the passengers answer for everything in front of a relentless examiner.

Cast & crew

Director Kamal Tabrizi is known for blending social commentary with accessible comedic storytelling. The cast gathers some of Iranian cinema's most celebrated names: Mehran Modiri plays the interrogator with characteristic intensity, while Leila Hatami brings quiet authority to the scheming airline head. Pejman Jamshidi, Mani Haghighi, Javad Ezzati, Hassan Majouni, Soroush Sehat, and Sam Nouri round out the ensemble.

Context & significance

Dark comedies that hold a mirror to economic anxiety and institutional failure have a long tradition in Iranian cinema, and this film lands squarely in that lineage. For diaspora viewers, the premise resonates beyond its absurdist surface — it captures a very real exhaustion with systems that leave ordinary people with impossible choices. The film's satirical look at bureaucracy, survival instinct, and collective desperation speaks to audiences who grew up navigating similar contradictions. Its ensemble format, gathering a generation of beloved Iranian actors, also makes it a kind of cultural reunion for Persian-speaking viewers abroad who have followed these performers across decades of film and television.

Where & how to watch

Maa Hame Ba Ham Hastim is available to stream on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch it on your TV, computer, or phone — no extra download or VPN required. Start a subscription and cancel anytime.