March 6, 2025
Lawyer Iman (Missagh Zareh) and his wife, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) lived in an apartment in Teheran with their two daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki). Recently, there have been a lot of unrest at the universities as women were demonstrating about societal restrictions on their freedom, beginning with the hijab. Najmeh supported the traditional religious view about this issue and advised her daughters accordingly.
Iranian filmmaker Mohammed Rasoulof completed this film while in exile in Germany where he escaped upon learning that he was put under arrest for undertaking this project which was very critical of the current regime. It had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival 2024, where it received a special citation from the jury. It eventually made the final shortlist of nominees for the Best International Film for the Oscars 2025.
This film was divided into two parts. The first part showed the awakening of Iman and Najmeh's daughters to social realities. They had a comfortable life, well-provided by their father, and cared for by their mother. However, when Rezvan became friends with activist Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi), she began to question the ultra-conservative practices imposed especially on women. She even answered back when confronting her parents.
The second part was a more intimate portrait of the conflict within the central family. It all started when Iman's government-issued handgun went missing while in their house. Confirmation of this loss would lead to the destruction of Iman's career, now only one step away from being appointed as a judge. This led to Iman's increasing paranoia about the women of his family whom he used to trust -- a metaphor of the national condition.
The lives of everyone involved in making this controversial movie had turned upside-down since this film was released against the objections of their government. Between the fictional scenes, Rasoulof inserted bootleg phone videos of actual street demonstrations, showing the world that this film was depicting events happening in reality. With this technique, the tension and danger we feel for Najmeh and daughters felt doubled. 8/10
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