Time: 100 Minutes
Age Rating: M – Suicide references
Cast:
Behnaz Jafari as Behnaz Jafari
Jafar Panahi as Jafar Panahi
Marziyeh Rezaei as Marziyeh
Maedeh Erteghaei as Maedeh
Director: Jafar Panahi

Ever since I watched It Was Just an Accident, I wanted to check out more of director Jafar Panahi’s work. I got the opportunity to do so with a screening of his 2018 film 3 Faces, and I really liked it.

3 Faces begins as a mystery as the two main characters travel to a village, trying to determine whether a suicide video they were sent was real. This investigative element early on is compelling to watch. Eventually, the movie becomes something closer to a roadtrip drama and something more complex. It takes on a more naturalistic approach as we just follow the characters and their interactions with the villagers, with the film moving at a steady pace. There’s a lot of thought provoking and nuanced social commentary as it covers customs and societal norms, and especially the treatment of women who are stuck within social repression and conservative traditions.

Behnaz Jafari and Jafar Panahi are great, playing fictional versions of themselves. They deliver subtle and believable performances, along with the rest of the cast who feel very natural in their parts.

Jafar Panahi’s direction is fairly minimalist, taking a subtle and steady approach. It’s very well framed and shot, and while it isn’t a documentary, the filmmaking felt similar to a documentary’s style at times.

3 Faces is a nuanced, patient, compelling, nuanced, and incredibly directed drama.