The movie wreaks of good ideas. The story is quite engaging and the characters are well thought out and very well played, especially the protagonist and the antagonist are very well thought out. In the dull landscape of Iranian cinema which is full of cliches and cheap comedies, this Column 14 offers a breath of fresh air. It is not trying to be something it shouldn't be. It is not trying to emulate the works of Asghar Farhadi or Saeed Roustayi, rather it is trying to be its own entity with its own identity and features. It has been a long time since I've seen an Iranian movie with this ambition, which is fitting for the newcomer director.
Form technical point of view the movie is very well made which shows the directors emphasis on using high-quality equipment and high-quality crew and what seems apparent to me is the director's involvement in all stages of preproduction and postproduction to make sure the final product is exactly the way he wants.
Form storytelling aspect, I must say I did not expect the movie to be so engaging. The characters are much more exaggerated than what is normal in Iranian cinema, which sort of reminded me of Hollywood, but it worked. Once you settle into the world which the movie depicts, everything starts to make sense. During the final 20 minutes of the movie, I was literally at the edge of my seat and couldn't take my eyes from the screen. The suspense was nail-bitingly good.
Overall, while the movie wasn't without flaws, I can easily recommend it and when I think that this is the first feature film of this director, I can't wait to see what he will do next.
