Futur Drei / No Hard Feelings

Son of exiled Iranians, Parvis(Benny Radjaipou) is sentenced to serve 120 hours community service at a refugee shelter. Once there, he meets shy but attractive Banafshe(Banafshe Hourmazdi) and his out-going sister Amon (Eidin Jalali). However, as the three of them are drawn together, it is not only culture and circumstance that threatens to tear them apart…

…a modern story rooted in old problems.

‘Futur Drei / No Hard Feelings’ is a modern story rooted in old problems. From a love that dare not speak its name to staying true to one’s culture, director Faraz Shariat’s tale of a resident immigrant falling for a political refugee deliberately hits all of its targets head-on. From its explicit gay sex and unveiled intolerance, each character finds themselves disconnected from a Germany that wants to be seen as progressive.

As Parvis, Benny Radjaipou’s performance owns the first two acts as the film is told primarily from his point of view. From testing his gag reflex with a toothbrush to his suffocated insecurities about being suitably gay / desirable, his assimilated role of a naturalised Iranian German pulls you into ‘Futur Drei / No Hard Feelings’s’ plot. Similar good value is the effervescent Eidin Jalali as Amon, Banafshe’s liberated younger sister. Pulling her brother out of his closeted shell, she and Parvis share many of the film’s best scenes. However, when a race against time is introduced in the final act, even the stoic, crumbling man-boy that is Banafshe Hourmazdi cannot balance the film’s shift in tone. 

For a movie which competently addresses the immigrant experience as a consequence of its characters’ actions, ‘Futur Drei / No Hard Feelings’ has a lot going for it. Engaging, honest and open, there’s much to enjoy here as its characters reconcile the indecisive attentions of a Germany which has different ways of expressing its affections for them.