Overview
- The Italy–Israel production adapts Azar Nafisi’s memoir, with Golshifteh Farahani as Nafisi and co-starring Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Mina Kavani.
- The critic says the film struggles to translate the book’s literary debates, including a classroom trial of The Great Gatsby, into coherent cinema.
- Scenes detailing the legal imposition of the hijab convey a stark visual and physical shock as public dress is reduced to uniform blackness.
- The narrative centers on an informal women’s reading circle in Tehran and highlights personal hardships such as domestic violence and punitive treatment after a medical visit.
- The review notes the adaptation’s timeliness following renewed attention to Iranian women’s rights, while recalling the memoir’s 2003 U.S. and 2005 German publications.