In this gorgeously animated drama, the lives of several strong-willed women and a young musician intersect. Their stories reveal the hypocrisies of modern Iranian society, where sex, drugs, and corruption coexist with strict religious law. In the bustling metropolis of Tehran, avoiding prohibitions has become an everyday sport and breaking taboos can be a means of personal emancipation. Nevertheless, women invariably end up on the bottom rung of the social order.
24 October 1966, Erzincan, Turkey
April 4, 1940
April 12, 2018
"Tehran Taboo" is enlightening and engaging. It manages to be both tragic and wryly funny as it explores social, cultural and political issues of modern Iran.February 28, 2018
It's so heavily loaded with grievances that it begins to feel one-dimensional, though it's impossible to argue with its compassion for its characters, whose sufferings are imposed by an intensely repressive society.February 14, 2018
Like no Iranian movie I've seen, Tehran Taboo reveals the routine hypocrisy of people who observe and even enforce a strict religious code but secretly indulge in the pleasures of the flesh.April 06, 2018
Happily, Soozandah is more humanist than polemicist, so that what follows is less about the system than the people navigating it.February 14, 2018
Using skillful, involving storytelling and beautifully executed rotoscoped photography, director Ali Soozandeh creates a world of intersecting urban miseries and challenges.February 28, 2018
Tehran Taboo is a fascinating glimpse into how Iran's patriarchal and religious society affects men and women.February 16, 2018
Although the themes are familiar, the urgency strikes a resonant chord that transcends borders.March 02, 2018
Some of the more dramatic developments feel heavy-handed. But the movie, which touches on everything from divorce to porn to abortion to illegal satellite dishes, is socially substantial and highly enjoyable female-focused...March 23, 2018
Amid the repression and pain there are some transcendent moments, some sweet shards of joy and leisure. The thickly lined bodies join together, come apart, fly or fall.February 15, 2018
Things are just as bleak at the end as they began, driving home the point that citizens, absolutely women, have every right in the world for wanting to seek refuge in more hospitable, progressive, developed, countriesMarch 12, 2018
These tales are brimming with urgency and conflict and serve as powerful reminders of the liberties and autonomy those of us living in the free world too often take for granted.February 13, 2018
"Tehran Taboo" aims to expose systemic hypocrisy; in that respect, it is brisk and bracing.