Weekend films

"Superman', entertainment with a political flavour

Busy cinema is also on show with 'Shayda', a debut feature by Noora Niasari

11 July 2025

3' min read

On the one hand there is 'Superman', the highly anticipated blockbuster that brings the famous superhero back to the big screen, and on the other hand there is 'Shayda', a committed drama that marks the debut behind the camera of Noora Niasari, a director born in Iran and raised in Australia.

Let's start with the fact that the new 'Superman' is a far superior and more interesting operation than the more recent films featuring the famous superhero: from 'Superman Returns' in 2006 to 'Man of Steel' in 2013, there have been numerous cinematic disappointments in recent decades with the character born from the pen of Jerry Siegel and the drawings of Joe Shuster at the centre.

“Superman” e gli altri film della settimana
Photogallery4 foto

It is certainly no coincidence that at the helm of this new operation is James Gunn, who, after concluding the 'Guardians of the Galaxy' trilogy in 2023 for Marvel and becoming the creative director of DC Studios, retains his eccentric, pop and highly rhythmic style to revive the character that was first portrayed on film by Christopher Reeve in 1978.

This film does not start with the superhero's origins. Instead, it recounts in the opening sequence Superman's first resounding defeat, forced to nurse the wounds, first physical and then psychological, that this defeat has left him with.

It is very evident how Gunn has tried, and to a large extent succeeded, in combining effective entertainment - the pace is high for the little more than two hours duration - with a truly explicit political breath of fresh air during various sequences of the film.

A pacifist appeal

Perhaps it may seem strange to read these words before having seen it, but 'Superman' is an extremely pacifist and anti-militarist product, with a remarkable Lex Luthor who seems to recall figures such as Elon Musk through a particularly incisive portrayal of the digital universe and control mania, with the use of cameras and satellites.

If the villain character is the best developed, less interesting are the other figures in a production that sometimes plays it a little too safe, especially towards a conclusion in which treacle abounds.

There are a few limitations, but Gunn is good and the film does its duty, leaning heavily on the register of comedy, providing several laughs but also more than one food for thought at the end of the credits.

Shayda

Coming instead to 'Shayda', one can start talking about it by recalling how its first presentation was at the Sundance Film Festival 2023, where it won the Audience Award in the World Dramatic Competition section.

Australia also chose it as its representative at the Oscars the following year, and 'Shayda' has since made numerous runs at various international festivals.

The title refers to the name of the protagonist, a very brave Iranian woman and mother of a six-year-old girl. The woman is in Australia, where she is forced to go in search of a shelter after suffering domestic violence and psychological abuse. She and her daughter fled from her husband Hossein, the child's father, staying in a secret women's shelter for some time, trying to rebuild a fragile but finally free daily life. Afterwards, Shayda decided to proceed with legal measures to protect herself and her daughter, but Hossein is allowed unsupervised visits to the child, thus fuelling new fears.

Directly inspired by the director's personal experiences, this film in which the debut author chose to recount part of her childhood memories. As she herself declared, 'Shayda' is a film designed to talk about women like her mother, who were marginalised for trying to obtain basic human rights, starting with personal freedom.

'Shayda' is as intimate as it is engaging, treating an individual theme with a universal scope, with which many people will empathise.

With the exception of a few somewhat acerbic and redundant passages in the middle part, 'Shayda' is a mature and incisive first work, capable of shaking the audience on different levels, so much so that it will remain with them for a long time after viewing.

Special mention for the great performance of Zar Amir Ebrahimi and for the script's ability to appear completely universal and capable of recounting women's situations from every latitude.

A small curiosity: the film's producers also include Cate Blanchett.