“The movie’s brilliance is in how it questions the very concept of a good deed.”—A.A. Dowd, AV Club
Writer-director Asghar Farhadi triumphantly returns to form he employed in is Oscar-winning film A Separation: A tiny conflict, little more than an anecdote, quietly and inexorably generates a series of misunderstandings, half-truths, and a sudden explosion of frustration and violence.
On a two-day pass from prison, Rahim uses coins of questionable provenance to try to pay off his debt, hoping to clear his name. When that fails, he returns the money and inadvertently becomes a social media celebrity. This attention soon turns toxic as cancel culture takes over.
As the film unfolds, many fault-lines of contemporary Iranian society are exposed. Farhadi works with ironic, humane, and searing precision. Winner of the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and shortlisted for the Best International Feature Oscar. 2021, Iran, DCP, in Farsi with English subtitles, 127 minutes. Rated PG-13.