Director: Payam Eskandari
Cast: Hossein Eskandari, Shahab Hosseini
Nargesi is a 2024 Iranian drama film directed by Payam Eskandari, telling the story of a young man with Down syndrome whose deepest longing — to love and be loved — sets him on a path that quietly challenges the world around him. At 93 minutes, it is intimate, unhurried, and deeply human.
What is Nargesi about?
Hossein lives with Down syndrome in a world that has largely decided, without asking him, what he deserves. His most persistent dream is simple: to find a partner, to marry, to build the ordinary life that others around him seem to reach for without a second thought. With a sincerity that disarms everyone he meets, he pursues this wish with stubborn, tender determination. The people in his life are not cruel — they are uncertain, caught between affection for Hossein and the conventions that define what a 'proper' life looks like. Then an unexpected arrival — a small, unlikely gift — shifts the gravitational pull of everything Hossein has known, opening a space he did not realize was possible.
Cast & crew
The film is directed by Payam Eskandari, making a grounded and empathetic debut in long-form dramatic storytelling. Hossein Eskandari carries the central role with disarming naturalness, anchoring the film's emotional weight. Shahab Hosseini, one of Iran's most celebrated actors and an Cannes-recognized presence, brings layered warmth to his supporting role, lending the film significant dramatic credibility.
Context & significance
Iranian cinema has a long tradition of centering marginalized voices and finding profound social commentary inside intimate, domestic stories — a lineage that runs from Abbas Kiarostami through to the social realism of Asghar Farhadi. Nargesi sits within this tradition while pressing on something the diaspora community knows well: the gap between what a society says it values — dignity, family, belonging — and who it actually extends those values to. For Persian-speaking viewers abroad, a film about longing for a 'normal' life and encountering structural indifference carries an extra resonance. The Iranian New Wave taught the world that quiet, observational cinema can be politically and emotionally radical. Nargesi draws on that inheritance.
Where & how to watch
Nargesi is available to stream on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Watch on the web, your Android TV, or your phone — no geo-blocking, no VPN needed. Subscribe and cancel anytime.