My Uncle Jens (2025)

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  ScreenZealots

  7 / 10

  Writer / director Brwa Vahabpour’s comedy-drama “My Uncle Jens” manages to find humor and warmth in a story often portrayed with heaviness.
  
  The film follows Akam (Peiman Azizpour), a literature teacher in Oslo, whose comfortable life is disrupted by an unexpected visit from his estranged uncle, Khdr (Hamza Agooshi). What starts as an awkward family reunion soon turns into a chaotic and revealing clash of cultures, expectations, and personal boundaries.
  
  The film offers an exploration of the immigrant experience from two different generational perspectives. Growing up in Norway, Akam navigates life with ease, while Khdr, coming from the Iranian part of Kurdistan, struggles with the barriers of language and cultural integration. The film cleverly uses language not just as a practical obstacle but as a symbol of power and vulnerability in relationships.
  
  Vahabpour’s comedic approach to a weighty subject is clever and welcome here. Instead of focusing solely on the hardships of migration and cultural adaptation, it finds humor in the everyday misunderstandings and tensions that arise when two vastly different worlds collide. Khdr’s overbearing presence in Akam’s shared apartment leads to a series of absurd but relatable moments, from lost-in-translation conversations and passive-aggressive roommate conflicts to the internal struggle of familial duties versus personal comfort. The film carries an emotional depth beneath the humor, especially as Akam slowly unravels the real reason behind his uncle’s visit.
  
  Surprisingly charming and introspective, “My Uncle Jens” is a refreshing and heartfelt film that challenges stereotypes and reminds us that even in moments of cultural and generational conflict, humor can be a bridge rather than a divide.
  
  By: Louisa Moore / SCREEN ZEALOTS

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