Directed by Jafar Panahi
With Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi
Rated PG-13, 103 minutes
In Azerbaijani and Persian with English subtitles
Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival with this dark and humorous thriller that fits neatly within his varied and illustrious filmography. Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri), an unassuming mechanic, is suddenly reminded of his time in an Iranian prison when he has a chance encounter with Eghbal (Delmaz Najafi), a man he strongly suspects to be his sadistic jailhouse captor. Panicked, Vahid rounds up a few of his fellow ex-prisoners to try and confirm Eghbal's identity. A true living legend filmmaker, Panahi here creates a deeply felt moral thriller, where high-stakes tension combines with unexpected flurries of humor and thoughtful, sometimes devastating questions regarding persecution and revenge.