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‘Paradise at Mother’s Feet’ Review: A Trek to Mecca Starts Heading in the Wrong Direction
Ruslan Akun’s well-intentioned road movie about a mother and son looking to secure a pleasant afterlife begin to dawdle in this one.
When scripture insists that salvation lies in making the pilgrimage on foot, the steps Ruslan Akun ’s religious drama take toward the promised land feel increasingly labored over a two-and-a-half-hour runtime, wearing out any early charm derived from a strong central relationship between its stars Emil Esenaliev and Anarkul Nazarkulova. There are reasons beyond both the elderly mother and son’s immediate fitness to believe the journey is an improbable one when it involves crossing seven countries, including war-torn Syria, but nonetheless Rayhan piles into a wheelbarrow led by Adil and the two set off across the mountains of middle Asia. However, Akun’s insistence to show all people and places in a positive light starts to feel calculated when each destination on Adil and Rayhan’s itinerary is introduced with the same brio as a film commission promotional reel, with swirling drone shots of any given nation’s skyline relayed with its name in glimmering gold capital letters.
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