Nominated for the 2025 Best International Feature Film Academy Award. After filming this movie in Iran secretly, director Mohammad Rasoulof had to flee the country after receiving an eight-year prison sentence which included whipping due to his art being perceived as crimes against the country’s security. 

A state investigator struggles with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran caused by the death of a young woman. When his gun goes missing, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing harsh measures that fray family ties.

A patriarch in every sense, Iman is an ambitious middle-class lawyer He has just been promoted to state investigator — the stepping stone to becoming a revolutionary court judge — and his family has received clear instructions on what is required of them as Iman’s star rises in the eyes of the state. Outside the home, the streets are alight with protests, depicted through real-life footage of the “Women, Life, Freedom” movement that exploded following the death of a 22-year-old woman who died in 2022 while in police custody after being arrested for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab.

Soon, Iman understands his role — rubber-stamping death-penalty judgments against activists without giving due process, resulting in the death of hundreds. As Iman becomes more entrenched in his work, he grows increasingly at odds with his own family. What follows is a social drama–turned–cat-and-mouse thriller that will have you at the edge of your seat.

“A thriller of propulsive skill and blunt emotional force, marrying the muscularity of an action film to the psychological intensity of a chamber drama.” New Yorker

Iran, France, Germany | 2024 | 167m | Language: Farsi with English subtitles

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof | Cast: Misagh Zare, Soheila Golestani, Mahsa Rostami

Content advisory: violence