[3] Leonard Maltin notes that the film was "written by the director and shot in his native village, with a cast of extraordinary non-professionals.

Ayoub goes to great lengths to collect money for the surgery by smuggling truck tires with a group of Kurdish villagers near the Iran-Iraq border.

Ayoub ultimately falls short of his intended goal and his uncle decides to marry off his sister in return for the groom's family financing Madi's surgery on the Iraqi side of the border.

When they arrive the mother of the groom refuses to accept Madi and agrees to give Ayoub and his uncle a mule as compensation.

[5] Leonard Maltin gave the film 3½ (out of 4) stars, stating the following: "The everyday struggle that these children go through just to survive is starkly, movingly conveyed.