Retouch
2017 · 20m · Iran
Directed by Kaveh Mazaheri
Genres: crime, drama, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
Maryam, a young Iranian wife and retouch artist, is at home when her husband has a fatal accident under his weights bench — instead of rushing to save him, she pauses, listens, and watches him die.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Everyone expects the wife to *do* something—call 911, scream, perform moral urgency—and Mazaheri just watches her *not*, which is genuinely transgressive in ways most 'dark' films are too cowardly to commit to.
A precise formal exercise in negative space and restraint; the film's lineage traces back through slow cinema and Bressonian minimalism, where the refusal to cut away becomes the entire moral argument.
That choice to stay on Maryam's face in real time, letting us read the exact microsecond her survival instinct outweighs her conscience—that's the entire film, and it's devastating because it works on pure acting and camera discipline with almost no artifice.
Reviews
Simultaneously entertaining and terrifying, with a flawless lead performance by Sonia Sanjari, and meticulous-bordering-on-pedantic direction.
Hauntingly thoughtful... silence is not always a sign of satisfaction.
Festivals
- Tribeca Film Festival 2017, Best Narrative Short
- Palm Springs International ShortFest 2017, Best Live Action Short Over 15 Minutes
- Krakow Film Festival 2017, Silver Dragon for Best Short Fiction Film
- Fajr Film Festival 2017, Best Short Fiction Film