Futur Drei – Wir (2020)

Directed by: Faraz Shariat | 92 minutes | drama, romance | Actors: Benny Radjaipour, Banafshe Hourmazdi, Eidin Jalali, Mashid Shariat, Nasser Shariat, Maryam Zaree, Abak Safaei-Rad, Jürgen Vogel, Knut Berger, Paul Lux, Niels Bormann, Hadi Khanjanpour, Katarina Gaub, Sevil Mokhtare, Vanessa Loibl

Finding true love as a result of stealing cheap candy from a supermarket is not something that happens every day. It happened to the German-Iranian Parvis (Benjamin Radjaipour), who has to do one hundred and twenty hours of social work in an asylum seekers center as community service. There he meets Amon (Eidin Jalali), a refugee. The sexual tension between the two boys is immediately noticeable, although Amon isn’t sure what to do with it. Parvis would like to express his feelings for Amon directly, but soon finds out that this is more difficult than he thinks.

When we think about asylum seekers’ centers, the association with love is not immediately made. It is a temporary shelter where uncertainty predominates. However, new relationships can also arise here. Parvis, a wild young adult who fled Iran to Germany with his parents, is ready for love and not afraid to pick up on other men. Unfortunately, although some people still think negatively about homosexuality, Parvis is not afraid of his sexual orientation. When he meets the asylum seeker Amon, the spark immediately flies. You can sense from the looks the two exchange that there is more to it than just friendship. Amon is still unsure about his feelings for Parvis, given the pressure his Iranian friends at the asylum seekers center are putting on him. Amon doesn’t want to damage his image. His sister Banafshe (Banafshe Hourmazdi) immediately sees that there is something going on between Parvis and Amon, but also notices that her brother is distant. Her friendship with Parvis brings the two boys closer together. Slowly but surely they visit each other more often and something beautiful is created. This friendship and love is broken by the news that unfortunately many asylum seekers receive during their time that they are staying in a reception center. After a time of joy, the uncertainty returns and the question is whether the three can stay together.

In a few ways, ‘Futur Drei’ is reminiscent of Xavier Dolan’s explosive indie film ‘Mommy’. Like ‘Mommy’, ‘Futur Drei’ uses a reduced aspect ratio. The cramped aspect ratio fits well with the tension between Parvis and Amon. In addition, director Shariat often chooses to place the characters in the center of the frame and to use a close-up (something ‘Mommy’ also regularly does). Now ‘Futur Drei’ is about completely different things, namely the inner struggle about sexuality and the hope of building a future in a safe country. Youth is the future and Parvis, Amon and Banafshe know that all too well. Even though they are not white or first generation German, they know their time is coming. This thought brings Shariat back to one of the film’s most memorable scenes, where the three young adults look into the distance and scream that they are the future. Yet there are people who do not want to cooperate in building a beautiful prospect for the three Iranians. In English the film is called ‘No Hard Feelings’, a statement Parvis makes after a Grindr date with an older, white German. He says that he has never done anything with a colored, furry foreigner. This is an eye opener for Parvis, who suddenly finds out that he may not feel as at home in Germany as he thinks, but he also has no connection with Iran. Moments like these are important for progressing the plot of the film, but are unfortunately a bit rare. Shariat should have shown more of this in his film to really make the story stand out.

‘Futur Drei’ is an entertaining story about the complications of homosexuality in an environment where it is not yet always accepted. In combination with the problems at an asylum seekers center, this ensures that the film gives a unique twist to a love story between two men. It takes a long time for the story to really pick up steam and set itself apart, which means that the film comes to an abrupt end. ‘Futur Drei’ is a nice attempt to give a film about homosexuals a new dimension, but it takes a long time to really explode.