When driving instructor Farzaneh spots her husband on the streets of Tehran, even though he is meant to be out of town on a business trip, she naturally suspects the worst. Following him, Farzaneh’s fears are seemingly confirmed when she sees him visiting another woman. With that woman’s husband also suspecting something is awry, the situation erupts into violence. Yet, all is not quite what it seems.

Taraneh Alidoosti (The Salesman, LFF 2016) and Navid Mohammadzadeh (No Date, No Signature) deliver compelling, psychologically driven performances in Mani Haghighi’s highly anticipated follow-up to his black comedy Pig (2018). An impressively scripted drama, balancing suspense and humour, and confounding genre expectations, Subtraction delivers an acute commentary on issues of class and family dynamics in contemporary Iran.