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'Circumstance' review

Two girls in love, in Iran

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
August 25, 2011

Critic's Rating:

Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy (Credit: Maryam Keshavarz/Roadside Attractions)

(L-R) Sarah Kazemy as Shireen and Nikohl Boosheri as Atafeh in ``Circumstance.''

Reza Sixo Safai as Mehran in ``Circumstance.''

Circumstance

Running time:: 105 minutes

Rated:: R

Cast:

Nikohl Boosheri -

Atefah

Sarah Kazemy -

Shireen

Reza Sixo Safai -

Mehran

Director:: Maryam Keshavarz

Genre:: Drama

Official Movie Web Site:: http://www.takepart.com/circumstance

Overall User Rating:: (0 ratings)

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["Circumstance" premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The following is an excerpt from Metromix's coverage of the festival.]

We've seen the story of "Circumstance" before, but not quite in this way. Two teenage Iranian girlfriends (Nikohl Boosheri and Sarah Kazemy) decide they want to be more than friends. But they're trapped in a culture where homosexuality is little more than "the love that dare not speak its name." So things don't end well.

Writer-director Maryam Keshavarz offers up all the compassion and attempted visual poetry you'd expect in an Iranian message movie, and it's certainly not a bad effort for a debut feature. There's also a surprisingly humorous affection for Hollywood entertainment—"Milk," "American Idol" and "Sex and the City" are prominently featured—and the way it breaks down boundaries. If that's Keshavarz's way of saying she'd like a Hollywood gig, she's proved herself worthy of an offer.

Follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter: @geoffberkshire