Quartile rating: 8/10 · 1 rating
Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures that strain family ties as societal rules crumble.
Mohammad Rasoulof's clandestine final Iranian film is a genuinely singular political thriller that uses intimate domestic paranoia as a lens for the collapse of authoritarian legitimacy during the Mahsa Amini protests. The plot is tightly constructed and escalates with real dread, blending documentary protest footage into the narrative in a bold formal choice. The performances, especially from the wife and daughters, are remarkably naturalistic given the covert production conditions. Cinematography is functional and occasionally claustrophobic by design, but not especially distinguished. The ending, while thematically resonant, leans into a slightly schematic confrontation that resolves the allegory rather bluntly. Novelty is high: the film's production circumstances, its hybrid documentary-fiction approach, and its unflinching inside-out critique of the Iranian judiciary make it unmistakably one of a kind.