If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Fantastic!

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Atafeh has wealthy relatively liberal Iranian parents. She attends parties with her best friend orphan Shireen. They rebel and start a sexual affair. They join other kids to make an outlaw movie. Atafeh's older brother Mehran is a recovering drug addict. He's unemployed and finds support in a mosque. He becomes increasingly religious and installs surveillance cameras in the family home. He's obsessed with Shireen and pushes to marry her. Atafeh's father also faces religious pressure and starts to join his son.The first half isn't anything special. The lesbian affair doesn't feel real. The relationship feels manufactured. Mehran's turn is more compelling. It is sinister and scary. The last act has some good dark turns. I don't think it works completely but it has some good drama.

Don't get me wrong, some of my favourite films are foreign language films: I love Amour, City of God, Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, and Letters From Iwo Jima. But the delivery of this film, even down to how the actors are speaking their lines is just dire.I would honestly prefer to watch an out-and-out gaudy, trashy lesbian film such as "And then Came Lola" or "It's in The Water" that at least is aware of how terrible it is than sit through another 100 minutes of this pretentious, inaccurate rubbish.I laud the intention, don't get me wrong. It's not every day you get a film based on the relationship between two Iranian lesbians. This film could have been amazing if it had just stuck to that point and developed their relationship as the primary focus of the film.But the film is drawn in so many directions, many of which are left incomplete. A group of friend talk about dubbing the film "Milk", later one of them is arrested as a spy (but we never find out the conclusion of either of these). The main male character Mehran starts the film smoking hard drugs, yet his father does a urine test on him that proves nothing?! One of the girls has no money for school at the start of the film, and this is never addressed again. These are just some of the examples... And to top it off, a large proportion of the acting is half-hearted and (from what I can see from Persian speakers reviewing the film) done by people who are not even fluent in the language. I didn't believe in the romance as there was no romance in how it was spoken, and the scenes were left underdeveloped.Also why are they preoccupied with going to Dubai?! I know it is probably less oppressive than Iran, but it isn't exactly a gay haven either!Go and watch a feel good, throw away, unapologetic gay film rather than wade through this. Trust me, I wish I had!

just could not believe that this is a film made by a first time filmmaker......it seemed more like someone who knew his craft of making film rather well....a director well into his 3rd film.....keeping aside the fact its a little confusing in its love & sex angles......which is just the icing on this delicious cake that lies within this film.....the icing being of course Sarah Kazamey as Shireen....she is defiantly going to be the next Monica Bellucci mark my words !!!But what stood out in the film for me was the underground Party scene of Iran and the appropriate use of music to describe it......i guess most people in the west cannot fathom people in eastern( i am from India) or middle eastern countries having a cool time.....well they do n they know how to given the CirCumstance !!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i read the reviews of some people above dishing the film....i mean if you want a film about Iran that is a documentary well then please turn on your respective News Channels or better still plz revisit n read the the summary above.....This film is a Lyrical Drama poetically shot....hats of to the Cinematographer/ DP( lots of cool wong kar wai style moments original in their own unique way).....superb acting by everyone i loved the actor who played Atafeh's father splendid father daughter understanding of a relationship depicted in this film in such a mature n modern way seldom seen in countries where women are meant to be locked up....being an aspiring filmmaker i loved this film by a first time director 5 stars for a fabulous debut.....n yeah for the guys ditching the film take a closer look guys.....n see the nominations & awards and this is her first film !!!

This film could be a good movie if the film crew knew more about the new generation, specially the girls in Iran. As an Iranian I couldn't believe the main characters. in comparison I can say that the character and performing of Shaun Toub in Crash(2004) and Ben Kingsley in House of sand and fog(2003) that both are non-Iranian, were more believable as Iranian than them. they cannot behave like an Iranian because they don't live in Iran and most of them have never been to Iran(according to IMDb).So each of them is completely performing as a teenager that has been growing in a different culture other than Iran. the film location and its elements are totally nonsense and different with Iran and what is important is that the audience who are familiar with Iranian culture and Iran can easily feel this differences. the Brother personality is very rare among Iranian youth and his behavior is overstated. in nutshell it is not about Iranian circumstances but it is about circumstances which can be related to an Iranian family who live in a foreign country but they think they should still consider some circumstances.