The Painting Pool

Maziar Miri's 2013 Iranian film follows Reza and Maryam, a couple with intellectual disabilities. They live and work together and have a son. As the boy grows, the questioning that begins at school and in the neighbourhood threatens the family's right to stay together. What the film handles most carefully is refusing either to pity the couple or to idealise them. Reza and Maryam make mistakes, argue and struggle to care for their child; none of that stops them being parents. The film locates the actual problem in the gaze around them. The performances by Shahab Hosseini and Negar Javaherian avoid the trap of imitation. The visual language is plain: domestic interiors, natural light, long takes. Treating this subject in this way was uncommon in Iran. Who it's for: those who like Iranian cinema and drama centred on the representation of disability. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a clear resolution; the film leaves the question open.