My Order

SCREENING AT THE KESWICK ALHAMBRA CINEMA (SCREEN 1)

Iman (Missagh Zareh) is a judge who sees benefits for his family in his career’s rapid advancement. His student daughters are suspicious of his increasing collaboration with the regime. He is warned not to confide in his wife (played by actor and anti-hijab protester Soheila Golestani) as he is encouraged to wave through death sentences without considering the evidence. Iman’s divided loyalties are exposed when his government-issued handgun goes missing, and suspicion falls on the women in his home. What follows is a supremely dramatic wave of edge-of-the-seat revelations.

Skilfully written and directed with an almost unnerving authenticity, this slow-burn Iranian thriller quickly gets under the skin with its resonant themes. Filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof had to flee from Iran after shooting this story, as it questions authority and explores issues officials there would prefer to repress. This alone makes it worth a look, while the quality of the production, even if it's overlong, makes it vital and important. Shadows on the Wall