Look at a theatrical release poster for The Breadwinner, and you’ll be startled by the piercing green-eyed stare of a girl wrapped in a faded red shawl. There’s an obvious parallel to the iconic Afghan girl who graced the cover of the June 1985 National Geographic; Sharbat Gula was a teenage refugee in Pakistan when she was photographed and soon after made into a globally recognized face, symbolizing the plight of distant women to the western world. Parvana (Saara Chaundry), the protagonist of The Breadwinner, is notably similar.

Eleven-year-old Parvana, her teenage sister, toddler brother, and mother depend on her father to survive in Taliban-controlled Kabul, Afghanistan. Once a schoolteacher, her father Nurallah (Ali Badshah) has been reduced to hawking wares on the street to support them. After an altercation with Idrees (Noorin Galamgaus), a former student turned Taliban member, Nurallah is unjustly arrested and dragged off to jail. This leaves Parvana’s family stranded in their bare apartment: women are not allowed to go outside without the accompaniment of a grown male relative. In order to prevent their starvation, Parvana ends up disguising herself as a boy so she can go out to buy food and try to free her father.

Though this may not sound like the most original premise, unique twists develop as the plot unfolds.  At home, Parvana begins telling the fantastical story of a boy on a journey to reclaim seeds stolen by the evil Elephant King to her younger brother, neatly introducing a major subplot.  However, as many characters are fleshed out and new ones added to the main story, a tangled quality emerges and fails to dissipate. Most of the many threads peter out confusingly or accelerating too quickly to a climax in the middle of the plot, detracting from the overall story.

Despite some awkward writing, The Breadwinner is carried through rough spots by its cinematic aspects. Chaundry is especially effective among the voice actors, all of whom are relatively unknown but talented. Her narration of the boy seeking to defeat the Elephant King goes well with the stunning storybook-like visuals.  The simplistic animation style may seem childish, but works to balance out the brutal elements of violence and loss present in the more realistic settings. By the end, the movie does manage to deliver sharp emotional punches.

Overall, The Breadwinner turns out fairly similar to its ‘Afghan Girl’ inspiration. Parvana and her compatriots’ stories are ultimately moving, allowing viewers to reach a more empathetic understanding of their struggles.