Maryam

Released 2000
Stars Mariam Parris, David Ackert, Shaun Toub, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Maziyar Jobrani, Victor Jory
Directed by Ramin Serry

It's 1979 and Mary, an Iranian-American teenager, pursues fun and romance in the New Jersey suburbs. Mary's world is radically transformed, though, when Ali, her fundamentalist Muslim cousin, comes to live with her family at the same time that Americans are taken hostage in Iran. American backlash against Iranians and Ali's disclosure of the family's dark history force Mary to come to terms with her own unique, culturally-divided identity.

Summary by www.netflix.com

There's a good story here, but it's buried in an Afterschool Special. One of the problems is Mariam Parris who needs to stick to light comedy and leave anger, resentment and hurt to other actors. In this movie, she glides right through every disappointment with the watershed attitude that we parents wish all teenagers possessed, but it's completely phony. It's too bad, because I liked the story. --Bill Alward, March 16, 2004