Subtraction

The film was produced in the year 2022 and is one of the films that have been illegally published in cyberspace due to problems. Minus the margins of the film in terms of release, it can be said that it is considered one of the different films of recent years in Iranian cinema. A different story with brilliant performances by Taraneh Alidousti and Navid Mohammadzadeh, along with the direction of Mani Haghighi, has made a good movie that is worth watching. However, things like the rain throughout the film, that too in the location of Tehran, are a little far from reality, and maybe the location of the story could have been changed and still use the eerie atmosphere of the rain. It seems that is the best film in Mani Haghighi's directorial career.

I'll preface this review by saying that I didn't go in "blind", as I had seen the trailer. I'll also say I saw this film with French subtitles, as I don't speak Farsi. I didn't glance away once from the film.

The plot of this film is unique and nothing like other recent Iranian films. This film doesn't deal with social issues head on, and instead has a subtle and unique plot.

I personally had no issue distinguishing between when Taraneh Alidoosti was playing Farzaneh and Bita/ Navid M. Playing Jamal/Mohsen, except for when Haghighi intended for there to be confusion.

The reason I gave this film 7 stars is because some of the behavior of the characters seems quite irrational, but just used to further the film plot.

I would suggest going in blind (not watching the trailer) before heading to the theater, so the first 20-30 minutes will also be a surprise.

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. An interesting setup, where relational issues are intended to be more important than the SciFi/Mystery elements, coming about by two identical men and two identical women, all four living in Tehran within a few miles of each other. In such a large, crowded city their resemblance can and will remain hidden for a long time. Until a chance encounter, changing everything.

So far so good. However, the story at hand extends this idea a giant step further by introducing two equally looking married couples. It stretches my imagination far beyond believability. Apart from that, there could have been given more attention to their respective differences.

I think that the filmmakers also wanted to tell us something about the patrimonial society that Iran is. This mission has limited success. We observe differences between the two households when looking at the hierarchical distance between husband and wife, but it is something that we must read between the lines. It easily gets hidden under the hood, as the other plot elements attract much more attention than political and social aspects.

Earlier this year I saw Superposition (Karoline Lyngbye 2023), also presenting two identical couples who meet each other and interact, yet for the remainder both stories differ on all counts, bringing totally different complications and developments. Both film plots are surreal and are difficult to get your head around when thinking about it. In the case of Superposition, I had the idea that the setup was therapeutical for one of the couples who needed that, otherwise their relationship threatened to get stranded.

In the case of Subtraction, however, I was at a loss about purpose, morale and message, if any. I scored 4/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue. In other words, well-made but missing a few chances to exploit the plot better.

First of all, one needs to understand what magical realism is to be able to understand the movie and its complex theme. Second of all, this genre along side surrealism, is one of the hardest genres to write/direct because when we deal with a real world where the impossible has been defined as "illogical yet true and acceptable" we also have a strong approach to the beautiful realms of philosophy and psychology. The movie is about personality, human behavior and relationships combined with a mystery drama. The whole story is a character study and if you look closely, you can see both similar individuals as only one person and this is the mirror and the parallel that keeps happening and recurring throughout the film just like a loop because there is no start point for this phenomena. It just exists.

There are so many great layers to each character and so much depth to story that some of it only depends on the viewers' perception and point of view. The movie is about the differences within ourselves and the way we deal with our own personal flaws and how our motives can change us or put us in a course of destruction or redemption. It's like a chain reaction. Every step matters and every decision is vital. This is a dark film with a dark ending and it never stops raining. It's like the whole world is crying. Thank you Mani and thank you Taraneh. Better days will come.

The movie is meaningless, it had no beginning and no end, no interesting story, nothing special, the actors acted very well, but the movie had no special meaning. This film caused a lot of noise in Iran and was even banned and released to the public illegally, but like many other films such as World War III, it is not interesting at all and does not compel the audience to watch it, they spend their time with Do not waste such videos. There are many good movies and masterpieces, enjoy watching them. Like Shahrzad, Gold tooth, Mast eshgh, Dinamit, Just 6.5. , Mim Mesle Madar,The Lizard,I'm Taraneh, 15. Even Hashtag khaleh sooskeh series.