Ehsan_Alikhani

The film's dramatic and social-media-driven concept is not bad, and it could have been developed and written much better. Unfortunately, the ending becomes predictable from the very beginning.

The lead actor playing Khaled does not deliver a strong performance, and his crying scenes in particular reduce the film to the level of a cinema student project.

Mina Vahid's performance stands out as good - and that's all.

Overall, the film has little value and does not leave a lasting impression on Iranian viewers because it is clichéd and unrealistic. However, it may works well for participation in international festivals and for winning awards, because it matches what European and American judges expect to see. Iranians are portrayed as addicted, poor and starving, or deceitful; politicians are insulted; and abandoned, run-down buildings are used as the main locations. These are exactly the images foreign judges already have of Iran and expect to see - a false picture created by Western media propaganda.

2 scores - for the concept and for Ms. Vahid's performance.

One positive point goes to the choice of a topic related to Shahnameh and patriotism.

Another positive point is for addressing the importance of family, love, and protecting nature.

A third positive aspect is the promotion of reading and literature.

It is also commendable that the film features actors like Amir Hossein Sedigh and Anahita Hemmati, who can be excellent choices for children's productions. They clearly give their best effort; however, the screenplay is weak, the makeup is poor, and the set design is full of flaws. Even in some scenes, it appears to be summer, while in others it suddenly turns to winter.

The use of non-professional actors or overly artificial faces due to plastic surgery causes the film the greatest damage.

While watching, I was reminded of films such as Old Men's School, Patal and Small Wishes, Thief of Dolls etc.; Despite being made many years ago, those films were highly impactful, conveyed their messages to children effectively, and were genuinely entertaining.

Unfortunately, this film was disappointing.

I enjoyed the fact that the film was in black and white. The cinematography is good, and there are nice shots of people, nature, and the road.

But the film has nothing in it. As a viewer, after watching it, I should have felt something or been affected in some way - but I wasn't. I think I'll forget the film completely in a couple of days.

The whole story can be told in one minute. Something that may happen once every hundred years!

The director probably wanted to become well-known by choosing a topic about women's rights, since that's a trending subject. International festivals expect to see such themes in Iranian films - the kind that show the oppression done in the name of religion or law.

Also, the way the story is shown seems designed to look as broken, worn-out, and miserable as possible, because that's what foreign audiences expect. So, the film tries to fit this fake image they already have of Iranian society, so they can connect with the movie.

The reason the film was banned is that it shows an actress without a headscarf. That's all. There's nothing important or remarkable in it that would make it worth watching just because it's been censored. It's simply the director's trick - to get banned or censored in order to gain attention.