A reclusive writer lives with his beloved dog in a remote house by the sea. As Islamic law forbids owning dogs, and this small act of defiance means that he has to shut out the outside world. His tranquility is abruptly broken one night by the arrival of siblings on the run from the police. Jafar Panahi’s second film made under house arrest is an engrossing meditation on censorship and creativity.

Reviews

‘The journey is often challenging, but the rewards—heady, emotional, provocative and invigorating—are endless.’
★★★★★
Keith Uhlich, Time Out

‘It is an allegory, dark but not despairing, of the creative spirit under political pressure, and of the ways the imagination can be both a refuge and a place of confinement.’
★★★★
A.O. Scott, The New York Times