Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- harrowing
- bleak
- oppressive
- serious film discussion
- arthouse cinema viewing
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The buried murder in the House continues to shape the lives and deaths of later family members.
The daughter is murdered by her father and brother to protect the family’s honor.
The House and especially its basement hold the family’s hidden crime while later generations reproduce its oppressive dynamics.
The film presents continuing pressure on women, murder, suicide, and abuse as an escalating nightmare within ordinary family life.
Films like The Paternal House, and why
A Separation
family patriarchal violence, women’s oppression, and devastating social realism
The Circle
iranian social drama focused on gendered power, family pressure, and moral confinement
The Night of the Hunter
intergenerational trauma, patriarchal control, and starkly unsettling domestic drama
Movie Details
- Director
- Kianush Ayyari
- Release Date
- 2014-02-01
- Runtime
- 97 min
- Rating
- 5.3 / 10 (10)
Cast
- Mehdi Hashemi
- Shahab Hosseini
- Mehran Rajabi
- Nazanin Farahani
- Naser Hashemi
- Mina Sadati
- Negah Khaghani
- Masoume Bafande
- Mojde Hamrang
- Setare Mirmohammad
Common questions
- What is The Paternal House about?
- An unflinching Iranian family tragedy excavates the generational damage caused by a murder committed in the name of honor.
- What is The Paternal House like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Paternal House as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Paternal House violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in The Paternal House as graphic.
- Which films are like The Paternal House?
- Films with a similar feel include A Separation, The Circle, and The Night of the Hunter.
- How long is The Paternal House?
- The Paternal House runs 97 minutes.
