The board of a noble housing complex in Tehran is concerned about hate letters delivered to all tenants of the house. In a terrible tone and full of horrendous accusations, letters target Zoreh Moshiri (Roya Afshar), a woman in her 60's who's sharing a nice maisonette with her mother-in-law and her grown daughter Shiva (Neda Jebraeili). The board doesn't really believe all the nonsense, but the otherwise very peaceful and respectful neighbourhood feels uncomfortable having that kind of gossip making rounds. According to those letters, not only she's stealing in supermarkets, Zoreh is also hanging around the school with kids, she's planning to poison her mother-in-law, and there are some wrong things happening in her home-operated beauty parlor.
Dominating the screen of Ali Derakhshandeh's feature fiction debut “The Enemies”, Roya Afshar delivers a fantastic performance as Zoreh, a mysterious and quiet woman with more secrets than anyone could possibly imagine.
The script penned by Bardia Yadegari is witty and interesting in its nuancing of the two parallel running realities. When the attention slides away from the lead actress, dialogues become knife-sharp and at times comedic. Funny is the character of the annoying and mean mother-in-law who nags day in and day out, and who embodies many cliches of an awful in-law. She is, so to speak, the globalized nightmare of the unfortunate married folks.
In good old Iranian tradition, having it simple is too much to be asked for. With thriller elements that sneak into the film, the atmosphere grows quickly tense keeping the curiosity alive. One crime reveals itself by showing the culprit straight out and the reason for this bizarre self-harming act won't be explained until the very end. The others on the other hand unfold slowly, one by one.
Most of the actual plot is happening in Zoreh's family home which becomes a sort of battlefield between one woman and her cats on one side, and the rest of the world on the other. Sneaky as it is, the world is ready to ambush you on the street and beat you up for the crimes you never committed, which actually happens to the lead character. There is something more hurtful than fists and kicks that pains her, so she simply leaves that episode behind.
With time, not only that people start believing rumors spread by the frequently delivered letters, two other women in the household develop a pang of paranoia as well. The feud between them deepens, and there is only one thing they have in common apart from “hating each other's guts”. Their son/ brother/ grandson Shahab who's been struggling with drug addiction has gone missing. As troublesome as he is, he seems to be the only family member who is truly loved.
The film points at the duality of a community that shows more interest for a fabricated story that could impact the reputation of the neighbourhood than for its biggest problem happening right in front of its door. Drug dealers can be seen from the windows selling heroin to young people in the park but the only investigation running in the settlement is the one regarding slander.
“The Enemies” is one of stronger contenders in the First Feature Competition of PÖFF (Tallinn Black Nights), where it had its international premiere.
