The Breadwinner (2017) | Movie Review
Directed by Nora Twomey and produced by Cartoon Saloon, the 2017 animated feature The Breadwinner is a visually stunning and emotionally profound adaptation of Deborah Ellis’s best-selling children's novel.
Set in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2001 under the first regime of the Taliban, the film tells the story of Parvana, an eleven-year-old girl whose life changes instantly when her father, a disabled schoolteacher, is unjustly arrested.
Women and girls are strictly forbidden from leaving their homes without a male chaperone, so Parvana’s family — consisting of her mother, her older sister, and her infant brother — are left entirely without a way to buy food or earn a living, facing immediate starvation.
Driven by desperation and a fierce love for her family, Parvana decides to cut her hair and dress in the clothes of her late older brother, taking on the persona of a boy named Aatish.
In the bustling, dangerous markets of Kabul, she is finally able to earn money, buy supplies, and look for a way to save her father from prison.
Along the way, she reunites with Shauzia, a former classmate who has made the exact same choice to survive as a boy, and the two forge a deep bond over their shared struggles and dreams of escaping to a better life.
The film relies on a unique storytelling device, contrasting the harsh, muted reality of Parvana's daily survival with a vibrant, highly stylized myth she invents to comfort her little brother.
This story within a story follows a brave boy on a quest to defeat a terrifying Elephant King who has stolen his village's seeds.
Rendered in a brilliant, cut-out paper animation style that looks distinctly different from the main film, this parallel tale serves as a emotional mirror for Parvana's own journey, revealing her inner resilience and helping her process a deeply buried family tragedy.
Rather than shying away from difficult themes, the movie approaches the realities of war, oppression, and systemic misogyny with extreme honesty, balancing the heavy subject matter with a profound sense of human dignity and hope.
The animation is masterfully crafted, using warm, earthy tones to capture the dusty beauty of Kabul and subtle character expressions to convey a massive spectrum of unspoken grief and courage.
Ultimately, The Breadwinner is a beautiful celebration of the power of storytelling to sustain the human spirit through the darkest times, honoring the immense bravery of young girls who find ways to survive against impossible odds.
Spoiler Alert!
In Kabul, Afghanistan, eleven-year-old Parvana helps her father, Nurullah, a former teacher who lost his leg in the war, support their family by selling goods and reading letters in the marketplace.
One day, a young, aggressive Taliban member named Idrees takes offense to Nurullah's educated background and later returns with soldiers to arrest him, leaving Parvana, her mother Fattema, her older sister Soraya, and her baby brother Zaki completely stranded.
Under strict Taliban rule, women are banned from leaving the home without a male guardian, meaning the family cannot even buy bread or water without facing severe beatings.
After a terrifying, failed attempt by Fattema to locate her husband at the local prison, the family's situation grows critical.
Parvana realizes the only way they will survive is if she cuts off her hair, puts on the clothes of her deceased older brother Sulayman, and assumes the male identity of Aatish.
As a boy, she is able to freely navigate the dangerous streets of Kabul, fetching water, buying groceries, and earning money by taking over her father's old spot in the marketplace.
While working, Parvana encounters Shauzia, another girl from her old school who is also masquerading as a boy named Deliwar to support her own family. Shauzia introduces Parvana to ways of making more money, such as digging for bones in old ruins, and shares her dream of saving up enough funds to escape Kabul and see the ocean.
To comfort her traumatized younger brother at night, Parvana weaves an ongoing folklore tale about a brave boy who must retrieve his village's stolen seeds from a monstrous, glowing Elephant King.
The situation worsens when a kind but illiterate Taliban soldier named Razaq hires Parvana to read a letter revealing that his wife was killed by a landmine. A genuine, protective bond develops between them, though Razaq does not realize she is a girl.
Soon after, as the drums of a fresh war begin to echo across the country, Parvana's mother decides to marry Soraya off to a man in a safer town outside Kabul so the family can find refuge, a plan that means Parvana would be left behind.
Determined to free her father before her family departs, Parvana tracks down the prison but is violently turned away.
Simultaneously, her family's transport arrives early, forcing Fattema to make the agonizing decision to leave for the wedding, though they are quickly met with hostility and danger on the road when the cousin helping them abandons them.
Parvana returns to the marketplace in a panic, eventually confessing her true identity to Razaq and begging for his help to get into the prison.
In the emotional climax, Razaq uses his position to enter the fortress just as guards are executing prisoners and preparing for war.
Parvana waits outside, continuing her mental story of the boy and the Elephant King, which serves as a metaphor for processing her brother Sulayman's real-world death from a toy bomb years prior.
Razaq manages to rescue a severely beaten but living Nurullah, carrying him past the chaos. While on the road, Fattema bravely stands up to a man to protect her children.
The film closes on a poignant note as Parvana and her father are reunited, walking through the dust to meet the rest of their family, while Parvana reminds the audience that it is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.
