Sun Children Parent Guide

Young Ali (Roohallah Zamani) is struggling to survive on the streets of Tehran. The 12 year old boy is living on his own, trying to earn enough money to care for his traumatized mother as soon as he can get her out of the psych ward. His employer, Hashem (Ali Nassirian), the local crime boss, pays Ali and three other boys to steal tires off cars in parking garages.

Ali’s life becomes more dangerous when Hashem informs him that his talents are needed elsewhere. There is a treasure buried under the cemetery and the only access is through the water pipe of a neighboring school for street kids. Ali and his fellow child thieves are instructed to register at the school, find their way to the cellar, and dig a tunnel without being detected.

The boys’ ingenuity is remarkable, but watching DIY electrical work done by tweens, plus dangerous tunneling with no safety protocols, made my blood run cold. Ali’s work in the tunnels also had me worrying about tetanus: I’m pretty sure he hasn’t had his shots. And no one has warned him that you shouldn’t explore a city’s water pipes when it rains…

Sun Children is the sort of film that will outrage adult viewers. It piercingly illuminates the failure of the Iranian state to protect its most vulnerable citizens and condemns those adults who exploit and manipulate desperate children. Throw in police cruelty, substandard mental health care, and underfunded education, and there’s plenty here to get upset about.

Whether the film entertains as well as informing audiences is an open question. The story is compelling and the acting is usually good. The child actors – all amateurs – give authentic, confident performances. Roohallah Zamani, in particular, with his open, freckled face and bright eyes, is incredibly easy to read, but all of the children bring a vulnerability to the screen that makes its way into viewers’ hearts. As with any foreign film, North American audiences might not always understand the social or cultural context for some of the scenes: this makes a few scenes feel a bit confusing, but it doesn’t impair the overall comprehension of the film.

Where the movie falters is in its pacing. It often drags – although that might simply be because I get bored watching tunneling scenes. Scene transitions sometimes seem awkward and a few plot points are more forced than organic. But my biggest beef is with the truncated ending – it feels like the last five minutes of the movie were left on the cutting room floor.

Perhaps the best way to look at Sun Children is as a work of “edutainment”. It’s informative and shines a light on the global plague of child labor, while also telling a story that will tug at your heartstrings. Are your teens going to make some popcorn and root beer floats and sit down in front of this flick? Probably not. But this movie’s messages of love, dedication, hard work, and sacrifice certainly wouldn’t do them any harm.