November 30, 2024 – A corrupt government, run by religious fanatics, drives an Iranian investigator crazy, along with his whole family, in this overlong story about a family's descent into madness, right along with the rest of society.

Iman (played by Missagh Zareh of “A Man of Integrity”) is an honest Muslim lawyer who has just been promoted to investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran in Iran, just a step below the coveted judgeship that would mean much more affluence and security for his family. He is so close to the good life, he and his wife, Najmeh (played by Soheila Golestani of “Two Dogs”) can almost taste it.

Iman and Najmeh are very traditional and conservative, at least they are compared to their two daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki of “Trapped”) who are more aligned with western values. Iman discovers, to his dismay, that his new job requires him to sign documents affirming the guilt of suspects he has not investigated. This could result in the execution of these suspects. He has no idea if the people he is potentially executing are guilty of any significant crimes at all.

Iman also learns that the last man who had his job was fired because he refused to sign the warrants. He is also given a handgun for his own protection from the families of people who have been wrongly convicted by him, and violent political opponents. Iman is under incredible pressure on the new job. He is morally injured by feeling forced to do things that violate his moral foundation.

Najmeh tells Iman that he should not sign the warrants, but it is not that simple. If he refuses, he would lose his job, and he and his family would suffer financially. He is in great distress. At this critical juncture, Iman's gun goes missing. This turns into a major crisis. If his supervisors discover he has lost his gun, he could end up in prison for years. At the same time, the whole country is in an uproar after a woman, Mahsa Amini, is murdered for not wearing the proscribed head covering (this really happened). This incident sparked huge demonstrations all over the country.

Gun laws and customs in Iran must be a lot different than they are in America. In this country, if a gun was this important, you would not leave it in an unlocked drawer, you'd put it in a gun safe. In this country, if you lost a gun, you'd just cruise on down to a convenient local gun store and buy another one, or, if there's no gun store, buy a gun from a shady character in a dark alley, problem solved. But I guess there are no gun stores or dark alleys in Iran. In this case, the missing gun is a huge deal, which tears the family apart.

Iman suspects his daughters of stealing his gun, and he arranges for them to be questioned by a friend, Alireza (sorry, I could not find a translated name for this actor) who is an expert interrogator. As Iman's desperation mounts over the lost gun, he takes more drastic measures to find it, eventually alienating himself from his family. This situation starts out pretty crazy, and gets more insane as the movie moves along.

There is an equal amount of insanity affecting the production of this movie. The Iranian government is so sensitive to criticism, and so dangerous, this movie was shot in secret (the quality of the film is remarkable, nonetheless). The director of this movie, Mohammad Rasoulof (“There is No Evil”) was previously imprisoned twice (he got the idea for the movie after meeting a man much like his character, Iman, in prison). Mohammad Rasoulof learned he had been sentenced to eight years in prison in absentia. Before he could be arrested, he escaped from Iran on foot through mountains, and ended up finishing the movie in Germany.

Some of the actors, who all give great performances in this movie, are facing harsh legal consequences for making this film. This is the sort of thing that happens in autocracies where governments are quick to use police and courts to squash dissent and criticism. Unfortunately, the United States seems to be heading down this same perilous political path towards shrinking freedoms. The crazies are taking over, just as they already have in Iran. This movie rates a B.

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