Director: Hesam Farahmand
Cast: Shahab Hosseini, Ghazal Shakeri, Zoha Esmailifar, Arman Mirzaee, Hadi Eftekharzadeh
Raha is a 2025 Iranian drama film directed by Hesam Farahmand, starring Shahab Hosseini in a story about an ordinary middle-aged family whose quietly stable life is suddenly overturned by one unexpected event — and the ripple effects that follow.
What is Raha about?
Vahid is a fifty-five-year-old man living alongside his wife and children in a modest, unremarkable routine. Nothing in their days suggests anything extraordinary. Then a single, seemingly small incident arrives — and the entire architecture of the family's world shifts beneath them. The film traces how each member of the household absorbs the shock differently, pulling at loyalties, silences, and buried tensions. Farahmand keeps the focus intimate, letting the human cost of a single disruption accumulate slowly across the household rather than resolving it quickly. The title, meaning "free" or "release", quietly frames what each character may be searching for.
Cast & crew
Shahab Hosseini, one of Iran's most internationally recognized actors, leads as Vahid, bringing his characteristic restraint and emotional depth. Ghazal Shakeri plays his wife, and the ensemble includes Zoha Esmailifar, Arman Mirzaee, Hadi Eftekharzadeh, Mohammad Reza Samian, and Mahni Mehrpour — a strong cast of Iranian screen veterans.
Context & significance
Iranian family dramas have long been one of the most vital threads in Persian cinema — from the measured domestic realism of the 1990s through to today's socially engaged productions. Raha sits in that lineage: a film less concerned with plot mechanics than with the emotional texture of family life under pressure. For diaspora viewers, these stories carry a particular resonance — they mirror the tension between stability and disruption familiar to families navigating life far from home. Farahmand's approach is rooted in social observation, making this a film that rewards patience and attention to the quiet moments between characters.
Where & how to watch
Raha is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on the web, your Android TV, or your phone — no geo-blocking, no VPN needed. Subscribe and cancel anytime.