Inversion

Emerging director Behnam Behzadi's measured insight into gender politics in modern Iran takes its title from the meteorological phenomenon that shrouds Tehran in smog. When the doctor suggests that ageing Shirin Yazdanbakhsh's pulmonary condition could be alleviated by clean air, siblings Ali Mosaffa and Roya Javidnia order their unmarried younger sister Sahar Dowlatshahi to close her thriving garment business and quit the capital for the rural north. However, Dowlatshahi is reluctant to jeopardise the livelihoods of her female staff and also has hopes of rekindling a romance with old flame Ali Reza Aghakhani. Setting several scenes in claustrophobic interiors that are cocooned by a choking haze and the din of electronic devices, Behzadi adheres closely to the conventions of Iranian feminist drama. But, while the menfolk are caricatures, the dynamic between the excellent Dowlatshahi and her spirited mother and adoring niece Setareh Hosseini is deftly judged and allows Behzadi to end on a note of cautious (if compromised) optimism.