Terrestrial Verses

Oct 5, 2023

1h 17m

★ 7.4

Overview

A satirical take on the mundane absurdities of life in modern-day Iran, these nine vignettes illuminate the lighter side of enduring under authoritarian rule. Whether choosing a name for a newborn, graduating from grade school, getting a driver’s license, applying for a job, or seeking approval for a film script, if you live in Iran, you best come fluent in Orwellian discourse.

Genres

Comedy

Drama

Production Companies

Taat Films

Seven Springs Pictures

Cynefilms

Tell Tall Tale

Terrestrial Verses Trailers

Cast

Siamak

Majid Salehi

Mehri

Gohar Kheyrandish

Ali

Farzin Mohades

Sadaf

Sadaf Asgari

Farbod

Hossein Soleimani

Faezeh

Faezeh Rad

Young Father

Bahram Ark

Aram

Sarvin Zabetian

Selena

Arghavan Shabani

100-year-old man

Ardeshir Kazemi

(voice)

Babak Karimi

(voice)

Behnaz Jafari

Golsa is a 16-year-old girl living with her family in a small town near Tehran. She spends most of her time hanging out with a group of friends. One day the group decide on a course of action the consequences of which will have unexpected results and turn their little bit of fun into something far more complicated.

0.0

Hendi & Hormoz

Feb 22, 2018

16-year-old Hormoz is consoled by the prospect of hiring on at the strip mine as he is married off to 13-year-old Hendi. Alas, the young man finds the doors of opportunity shut tight. When Hendi becomes pregnant Hormoz enters into an ominous pact with a smuggler in order to ensure his family’s livelihood.

6.5

Middle Men

May 17, 2009

Chronicles Jack Harris, one of the pioneers of internet commerce, as he wrestles with his morals and struggles not to drown in a sea of conmen, mobsters, drug addicts, and pornstars.

7.2

Moolaadé

Aug 4, 2004

When a woman shelters a group of girls from suffering female genital mutilation, she starts a conflict that tears her village apart.

6.9

Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow

Dec 6, 1963

English vicar Dr. Syn becomes a scarecrow on horseback by night to thwart King George III's taxmen.

7.5

About Elly

Jun 6, 2009

The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.

4.7

A Female Boss

Dec 16, 1959

Would-be feminist Yoanna, running her own company, is insulted in a phone booth by a stranger named Yong-ho. While searching for a job, Yong-ho applies to a magazine named 'The Modern Woman,' not knowing that the company's boss is in fact Yoanna. She hires him with the intention of paying back the humiliation she received. But his masculine attitude captivates her and she ends up marrying him. She resigns her post and becomes a housekeeper, handing over the company to her husband.

7.1

The Negotiator

Jul 29, 1998

The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.

6.2

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans

Sep 11, 2009

Terrence McDonagh is a New Orleans Police sergeant, who receives a medal and a promotion to lieutenant for heroism during Hurricane Katrina. Due to his heroic act, McDonagh injures his back and becomes addicted to prescription pain medication. He then finds himself involved with a drug dealer who is suspected of murdering a family of African immigrants.

8.0

Sanjuro

Jan 1, 1962

Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.

7.1

L.627

Sep 9, 1992

In Paris, Lulu, a passionate policeman, works with the faith of a rookie, despite the sclerotic bureaucracy and the incompetence or negligence of some of his colleagues. In his new position as a narcotics inspector, he tries to keep his sanity as he witnesses the worst of the human condition.

6.5

The Inspector General

Dec 31, 1949

An illiterate stooge in a traveling medicine show wanders into a strange town and is picked up on a vagrancy charge. The town's corrupt officials mistake him for the inspector general whom they think is traveling in disguise. Fearing he will discover they've been pocketing tax money, they make several bungled attempts to kill him.

6.2

Lemonade

Oct 4, 2018

While working in the US on a temporary visa as a caretaker, Mara, a 30 year-old single mother from Romania, marries Daniel, an American. After the arrival of her son Dragos, everything seems to have fallen perfectly into place. When the process of getting a green card veers unexpectedly off course, however, Mara is faced with abuses of power on every level and forced to answer a dark question about herself – how far would you go to get what you want?

7.6

Giant

Nov 8, 1956

Wealthy rancher Bick Benedict and dirt-poor cowboy Jett Rink both woo Leslie Lynnton, a beautiful young woman from Maryland who is new to Texas. She marries Benedict, but she is shocked by the racial bigotry of the White Texans against the local people of Mexican descent. Rink discovers oil on a small plot of land, and while he uses his vast, new wealth to buy all the land surrounding the Benedict ranch, the Benedict's disagreement over prejudice fuels conflict that runs across generations.

5.8

All the King's Men

Sep 10, 2006

The story of an idealist's rise to power in the world of Louisiana politics and the corruption that leads to his ultimate downfall. Based on the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel written by Robert Penn Warren, loosely based on the story of real-life politician Huey Long.

6.6

The Inheritors

Jun 19, 1998

In a small farming valley in Austria in the beginning of the 20th century a tyrannical farmer is found dead, and all the farmhands are relieved to be free of their tyrant. But the farmer was childless, so suddenly they all inherit the farm together. Now conflicts begin, as nobody is the boss and nobody has to obey.

6.6

Street Kings

Apr 10, 2008

Tom Ludlow is a disillusioned L.A. Police Officer, rarely playing by the rules and haunted by the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he's been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.

7.6

Blood Diamond

Dec 8, 2006

An ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing the fisherman's son, conscripted as a child soldier into the brutal rebel forces ripping a swath of torture and bloodshed countrywide.