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This pictogram shows the spread of responses received.
Overall Audience score 88.6% |
A Selection of Audience Feedback
Positive
Superb film, ideal for CFS. Interesting, beautifully acted and directed, and extremely gripping. Thank you very much for showing it.
A frightening disintegration of a man’s personality against a hostile regime. Although a long film had me hooked the whole way.
A really interesting, emotional, and well acted film so appropriate to world current events. Although it was a long film, time wise, the time flew by. It left me feeling quite ignorant about the traditions, laws, and geographic layout of the country. One should never underestimate the power of the ruling forces as the young protesters found out.
A brilliant film about an appalling reality. Loved the film but despaired for the people.
A very thought provoking film with many interesting layers. Very relevant at the moment. The interspersing with phone video clips was very effective.
I’m not sure we needed reminding how ghastly the Iranian regime is. But this carefully structured analysis showed how submission to autocracy leads bit by bit to the destruction of trust, honour, perspective, family, individual agency and love. Iran is simply a more violent, vengeful and relentless version of what we see, in different degrees, in Russia, China, and insidiously creeping up on the USA. The Trump/Hegseth view of society is just as intolerant and vengeful, if not yet quite as brutal. It makes one rather wary of people who know they are right: they so swiftly want uncertainty and skepticism obliterated.
Not an easy watch and unfortunately very topical given the awful events of the past few months. Great acting and gripped my attention from the start. A damming indictment of the dire Iranian regime.
Excellent close up of a family - reflecting social divisions. Enjoyed seeing the landscapes of Iran. Very topical too. Very interesting to read the back story of the film maker.
Very thought provoking and beautifully shot.
A very engaging and thoughtful film. A slight shift in focus at the end but overall a great thriller ending.
An engrossing and powerful film.
Gripping, educational, horrific. An amazing film born out of huge courage.
It was a really thought provoking film and apt given current circumstances in Iran. Frightening how quickly men in particular fail to change and understand female psyche and reject change by imposing fear and violence. It showed the strength of women in adversity verses how men adapt when faced with bullying, fear and unfortunate consequences when not bowing to a regime. The film was compelling as whilst it was long I had to watch all of it. Well cast, well directed, acted and good cinematography. Albeit the scene shot in an abandoned area of supposedly Tehran seemed familiar from a film earlier in this season. The film certainly promoted quite a lot of discussion afterwards with my male friend and differing opinions from male vs female perspectives.
Mixed Feelings?
Very topical and good at highlighting a real family dilemma even though the ending appeared rather contrived.
Such a remarkably dismal portrayal of life in Iran, but with some unconvincing acting performances.
Gripping plot despite length. Interesting to see inside Iran. Loved that the girls were so feisty, despite everything. These things made up for some scenes being a bit hard to believe/clunky/overlong.
A very disturbing film, that will haunt me for quite a while, especially given the current war. I gave it a score of ‘good’ because it was a brave film to make, and showed how men, and especially women, are victims of a repressive state. The inevitable consequences are fear and paranoia and more repression. However, it was a flawed film - overly long, particularly towards the end, and some actions lacking explanation (why did the younger daughter hide the gun?).
A powerful, highly topical and thought provoking film. I thought the way in which most of the filming occurred emphasised the claustrophobic circumstances imposed by the rapidly evolving situation as well as narrowing the focus on examining the complex nuances of family relationships placed under unbearable stresses. Although challenging to watch the inclusion of video live footage clips anchored the mostly domestic interior scenes firmly and repeatedly to the horrendous events transpiring in the streets outside, which materialised in shocking close up when Rezvan’s friend’s injuries are revealed. I admire the bravery particularly of the female actors who took on their roles knowing it would mean exile from their country and continued threat to their lives. I felt that there was insufficient exploration of how Sana discovered her father had a gun in the house and why she took it. This is pivotal to the plot of the story and I thought deserved better exposition.
A wonderful film which inspite of its length never felt too long or boring. A brilliant insight into Iranian society, however trailed off into a crazy (the madness of the father was understandable) thrillerish extended ending.
Too long and rather uneven in pace but well acted and interesting subject matter.
Way too long and the storyline needed improvement. Some indication into the younger daughter's motivation for taking the gun should have been introduced - we were not even aware that she knew about the gun. The performances were excellent, especially the eldest daughter and the ambiguity about our understanding of the mother's relationship with her husband (where we might initially have thought it was intimate and caring) which turned out to be one of fear, was interesting and well developed. Overall the film was disturbing and upsetting: why do so many men feel the need to control women? Are they so insecure?
Negative
A film of two halves: the first half set the scene for an insightful exploration of the impact on a man's family when his professional and personal lives clash; unfortunately, the second half descended into an increasingly unrealistic and uninteresting melodrama.
The real life footage of the demonstrations was powerful and unsettling, offering a real insight into the awfulness and terror. The story line about the father seemed to lose the plot halfway through and the last hour at least was overlong and unconvincing and took away from the impact of footage of immediate news coming through the girls’ mobiles.
First half of the film was excellent but then it completely lost its way.
I thought the first half of the film was excellent in depicting what it’s like living under a dictatorship. I felt the second half felt a bit like a Hollywood film with its car chase. Good performances all round.
Superb film, ideal for CFS. Interesting, beautifully acted and directed, and extremely gripping. Thank you very much for showing it.
A frightening disintegration of a man’s personality against a hostile regime. Although a long film had me hooked the whole way.
A really interesting, emotional, and well acted film so appropriate to world current events. Although it was a long film, time wise, the time flew by. It left me feeling quite ignorant about the traditions, laws, and geographic layout of the country. One should never underestimate the power of the ruling forces as the young protesters found out.
A brilliant film about an appalling reality. Loved the film but despaired for the people.
A very thought provoking film with many interesting layers. Very relevant at the moment. The interspersing with phone video clips was very effective.
I’m not sure we needed reminding how ghastly the Iranian regime is. But this carefully structured analysis showed how submission to autocracy leads bit by bit to the destruction of trust, honour, perspective, family, individual agency and love. Iran is simply a more violent, vengeful and relentless version of what we see, in different degrees, in Russia, China, and insidiously creeping up on the USA. The Trump/Hegseth view of society is just as intolerant and vengeful, if not yet quite as brutal. It makes one rather wary of people who know they are right: they so swiftly want uncertainty and skepticism obliterated.
Not an easy watch and unfortunately very topical given the awful events of the past few months. Great acting and gripped my attention from the start. A damming indictment of the dire Iranian regime.
Excellent close up of a family - reflecting social divisions. Enjoyed seeing the landscapes of Iran. Very topical too. Very interesting to read the back story of the film maker.
Very thought provoking and beautifully shot.
A very engaging and thoughtful film. A slight shift in focus at the end but overall a great thriller ending.
An engrossing and powerful film.
Gripping, educational, horrific. An amazing film born out of huge courage.
It was a really thought provoking film and apt given current circumstances in Iran. Frightening how quickly men in particular fail to change and understand female psyche and reject change by imposing fear and violence. It showed the strength of women in adversity verses how men adapt when faced with bullying, fear and unfortunate consequences when not bowing to a regime. The film was compelling as whilst it was long I had to watch all of it. Well cast, well directed, acted and good cinematography. Albeit the scene shot in an abandoned area of supposedly Tehran seemed familiar from a film earlier in this season. The film certainly promoted quite a lot of discussion afterwards with my male friend and differing opinions from male vs female perspectives.
Mixed Feelings?
Very topical and good at highlighting a real family dilemma even though the ending appeared rather contrived.
Such a remarkably dismal portrayal of life in Iran, but with some unconvincing acting performances.
Gripping plot despite length. Interesting to see inside Iran. Loved that the girls were so feisty, despite everything. These things made up for some scenes being a bit hard to believe/clunky/overlong.
A very disturbing film, that will haunt me for quite a while, especially given the current war. I gave it a score of ‘good’ because it was a brave film to make, and showed how men, and especially women, are victims of a repressive state. The inevitable consequences are fear and paranoia and more repression. However, it was a flawed film - overly long, particularly towards the end, and some actions lacking explanation (why did the younger daughter hide the gun?).
A powerful, highly topical and thought provoking film. I thought the way in which most of the filming occurred emphasised the claustrophobic circumstances imposed by the rapidly evolving situation as well as narrowing the focus on examining the complex nuances of family relationships placed under unbearable stresses. Although challenging to watch the inclusion of video live footage clips anchored the mostly domestic interior scenes firmly and repeatedly to the horrendous events transpiring in the streets outside, which materialised in shocking close up when Rezvan’s friend’s injuries are revealed. I admire the bravery particularly of the female actors who took on their roles knowing it would mean exile from their country and continued threat to their lives. I felt that there was insufficient exploration of how Sana discovered her father had a gun in the house and why she took it. This is pivotal to the plot of the story and I thought deserved better exposition.
A wonderful film which inspite of its length never felt too long or boring. A brilliant insight into Iranian society, however trailed off into a crazy (the madness of the father was understandable) thrillerish extended ending.
Too long and rather uneven in pace but well acted and interesting subject matter.
Way too long and the storyline needed improvement. Some indication into the younger daughter's motivation for taking the gun should have been introduced - we were not even aware that she knew about the gun. The performances were excellent, especially the eldest daughter and the ambiguity about our understanding of the mother's relationship with her husband (where we might initially have thought it was intimate and caring) which turned out to be one of fear, was interesting and well developed. Overall the film was disturbing and upsetting: why do so many men feel the need to control women? Are they so insecure?
Negative
A film of two halves: the first half set the scene for an insightful exploration of the impact on a man's family when his professional and personal lives clash; unfortunately, the second half descended into an increasingly unrealistic and uninteresting melodrama.
The real life footage of the demonstrations was powerful and unsettling, offering a real insight into the awfulness and terror. The story line about the father seemed to lose the plot halfway through and the last hour at least was overlong and unconvincing and took away from the impact of footage of immediate news coming through the girls’ mobiles.
First half of the film was excellent but then it completely lost its way.
I thought the first half of the film was excellent in depicting what it’s like living under a dictatorship. I felt the second half felt a bit like a Hollywood film with its car chase. Good performances all round.