Bannière Horizontale Jaune

There’s something rather uncinematic about a phone call. They can be used in interesting and dynamic ways, but when much of a film consists of the lead character answering (and sometimes ignoring) her phone, it places much burden on the dialogue – which here is unfortunately not as biting or engaging as is required given Inversion‘s politically allegorical narrative.

Inversion gets its message across quietly and in a continuous day-to-day sense, through the struggles of its central character Niloofar (Dowlatshahi) – which make clear that as far as women’s rights have come in Iran, they still have some way to go.

Plainly directed and framed, and dramatically rather unengaging, an admirable message about human rights does not a great film make.

RATING: 2/5

INFORMATION

CAST: Sahar Dowlatshahi, Ali Mosaffa, AliReza Aghakhani, Setareh Pesyani, Roya Javidnia, Shirin Yazdanbakhsh

DIRECTOR: Behnam Behzadi

WRITER: Behnam Behzadi

SYNOPSIS: When Niloofar’s (Dowlatshahi) mother falls ill from the deadly Tehran smog, her children have to decide who must leave their life in the city to take care of her in the country.

TRAILER FORTHCOMING

Inversion was screened in Un Certain Regard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.