CIRCUMSTANCE written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz, with Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy. 105 minutes. Subtitled. A Mongrel release. Opens Friday (October 7). For venues and times, see Movies. Rating: NNNN
In Circumstance, winner of the Audience Choice award at Sundance, teenage girls Atafeh and Shireen (Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy) struggle with Iran’s social strictures while embarking on a sexual relationship.
Soon, Atafeh’s fundamentalist brother (Reza Sixo Safai, who avoids stereotype) becomes a threat.
Director Maryam Keshavarz effectively evokes Tehran’s dance club underground, where the young women and their friends find fleeting freedom. And a funny sequence in which an Iranian American helps them dub the film Milk into Farsi savvily conveys Keshavarz’s pro-sex themes, though sex scenes are more sensual than explicit.
Expertly shot by Brian Rigney Hubbard, the movie begins with scenes shot in open, airy spaces but grows increasingly claustrophobic toward the end.
Look for Toronto theatre director Soheil Parsa as Atafeh’s father in a very effective turn as a man desperately trying to keep his family from crumbling.
Great Iranian dance club music, too.