There Is No Evil Sheytan vojud nadarad

Synopsis

Golden Bear, Berlin Film Festival

Four thematically connected, meticulously constructed stories follow characters whose decisions to carry out executions (or not) have life- and soul-altering consequences. Devoted family man Heshmat cares for his aging mother, wife, and daughter—but where does he go every morning before dawn? Young soldier Pouya, who has been assigned to the prison death penalty unit, will do anything to escape his military duty. Javad gets a short leave to surprise his beloved Nana on her birthday—but when he arrives, he receives an even bigger shock. Bahram must explain to his niece why he has abandoned his medical career to live as a beekeeper. At once sobering and heady, Mohammad Rasoulof’s brilliant anthology film offers a humanistic reflection on the exacting social, psychological, and emotional toll of taking another’s life.