by Mohammad Rasoulof
Heshmat is a caring husband and father who, when driving to work at night, becomes completely apathetic; Pouya, serving against his will in the military, receives the order to kill another man; Javad wants to surprise his girlfriend by proposing on her birthday, but is himself caught off guard by a shocking truth; and Bahram, who has lived alone in the secluded countryside for years, makes the momentous decision to reveal the reason for this to his niece. Set in present-day Iran, THERE IS NO EVIL tackles the death penalty in four loosely connected episodes. In varied realizations, the question is explored to what extent free will and morality are possible despite the organized oppression of a totalitarian regime.