Inversion
Directed by Behnam Behzadi
Starring Sahar Dolatshahi, Ali Mosaffa, Setareh Pesyani, Roya Javidnia and Shirin Yazdanbakhsh
Tehran's air pollution has reached maximum levels because of thermal inversion. Unmarried 30-something Niloofar lives with her aged mother, and stays busy with her alterations shop. When doctors insist that her mother must leave smoggy Tehran for her respiratory health, Niloofar’s brother and family elders decide that she must also move away to accompany her mother. Now Niloofar is torn between family loyalty and living her own life. As the youngest she has always obeyed their orders. Can she stand up for herself this time?
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Reviews
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★★★★ review by Chloe on Letterboxd
A complex, absorbing drama, anchored by a phenomenal performance from Sahar Dolatshahi. Her mistreatment from her patriarchal family is sometimes agonisingly frustrating, but Dolatshahi's steeliness stops the film from becoming too disheartening. You know she can look after herself.
My only real complaint is that in the last ten minutes or so, decisions happen quickly and off-screen, and it's a little confusing.
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★★★½ review by Beat C on Letterboxd
A simple, self-contained drama about a woman fighting for a modicum of individuality and autonomy. Smog-filled Teheran is a particular backdrop. (7/10)
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★★★★★ review by JoeFerrara on Letterboxd
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★★★★ review by TheMovieWaffler.com on Letterboxd
Their figurehead, Abbas Kiarostami, may no longer be with us, but Iranian filmmakers continue to be at the forefront of mature, adult oriented drama. Asghar Farhadi regularly picks up awards across the globe, most notably with Oscars for A Separation and The Salesman. Despite being 'banned' from filmmaking in his native land, Jafar Panahi has managed to produce some of the most invigorating work of his career under such conditions with experimental films like Closed Curtain and Taxi Tehran. And from a society not known for its gender equality, Behnam Behzadi now gives us one of 2017's most well developed female leads in family drama Inversion.
Said protagonist is Niloofar (Sahar Dowlatshahi, an actress with a Hollywood smile if ever there were one), a thirty-something Tehranian woman who seems to have built herself a good life. She runs a successful if modest garment business and has begun dating a handsome, rich suitor who seems like a genuinely nice guy (Ali Reza Aghakhani).
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★★★★★ review by Alan Orth on Letterboxd
Fantastic! Great character development, touching story. Why are Iranian movies always so heavy though? I really felt sad for the women in the story.
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