The film stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, Osamah Sami, Mojean Aria, Jillian Nguyen, Rina Mousavi, Selina Zahednia, and Leah Purcell.

Inspired by Niasari's childhood experiences, the story follows an Iranian immigrant woman in Australia who is raising her young daughter as the two live in a women's shelter, while also attempting to divorce from her abusive husband.

[11][12][13] In February 2023, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film for North and Latin America, the Benelux, Eastern Europe, Portugal, the Middle East and Turkey.

"[20] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 76 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

[21] Shayda was selected, on 30 August 2023, as the Australian entry to the Best International Feature Film category for the 2024 Academy Awards in the United States.