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Circumstance
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Metascore
65 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critics What's this?

User Score
4.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 7 Ratings

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10 out of 10
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  • Summary: A suspenseful tale of love and family upended by obsession and suspicion, Circumstance is also a provocative coming-of-age story that cracks open the hidden, underground world of Iranian youth culture, where a young woman's most electrifying passions can become the most dangerous of secrets. (Participant Media)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: G. Allen Johnson
    Sep 8, 2011
    100
    This movie doesn't work unless the central relationship between Atafeh and Shireen works. It does, beautifully; whether together in a nightclub or alone in a bedroom, Boosheri and Kazemy find a delicacy and sensitivity that reinforces, not diminishes, their strength.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    Aug 24, 2011
    91
    Here, love and attraction between two teenage girls put them on a collision course with Tehran society in general and one girl's troubled, increasingly religious brother in particular.
  3. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    Aug 29, 2011
    60
    Circumstance demonstrates raw talent and a taste for big ideas.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. RobinsNest
    8
    At first it was confusing as I am unsure whether it is faithful to the culture. Women must cover their heads yet the girls wear high heels and makeup. Not knowing the culture and only hearing snippets of what Iran is really like through NPR, the story was difficult to get involved in. But this changed as the fluent relationship of Atafeh and Shireen becomes exposed (to me). The spirit of the film is bubbling just under the false veneer of all the characters. I wanted them to burst out and stand up for themselves as in America. But the heartbreak is they are all trapped by their Circumstance under the repressive Iranian culture; even those characters I identified as evil. They are all searching for love, but even if they are lucky enough to find it, it becomes - suppress or die. Once I realized, from watching the extras on the DVD, the risk Ms Keshavra and all the Iranians took, it made the film all the more poignant. It is so important for us to know how lucky we are here and how deplorable conditions are around the world. Films such as this are must see; especially for the young people who shape not only our world but the global world.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. CitizenCharlie
    6
    The circumstances which the two girls in Circumstance find themselves struggling against are those created by the oppressive Iranian theocracy. Every single thing which they want to do as teenagers is deemed illegal by the ruling mullahs and enforced by the corrupt morality police. To circumvent the rules, they use secret code words and signals to sneak into underground parties where there is dancing between the sexes, drinking, and some recreational drug use. To add even more danger to their escapades, the girls, who are best friends, discover they are falling in love with each other which could destroy not own their own, but their family’s lives in patriarchal Iran. Atifeh (Nikohl Boosheri) comes from a wealthy and comparatively liberal family. Her father encourages training in music and does not openly support the mullahs. Atifeh’s brother, Mehran (Reza Sixo Safai), is already a trained classical musician but is struggling against some personal demons. He has just returned home from rehab to get rid of a drug problem and finding himself adrift in sobriety, turns to radical Islam where he latches on to the morality police upsetting the family’s dynamic. Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) is poor and lives with her aunt and uncle because the regime ‘disappeared’ her university professor parents because they had ideas the mullahs did not appreciate. Her teachers jab her with snide remarks for her questionable character, her uncle just wants to find a suitor to marry her off to, and Mehran is showing some uncomfortable glances and awkward touches which Shireen does not want to return. The odds are not with Atifeh and Shireen. Their society, government, and families have created circumstances which bind them to specific situations they do not want to be in. First time filmmaker Maryam Keshavarz shows the impact of Iran’s theocratic culture at the micro level focusing on two girls and their immediate family. The audience witnesses how dangerous it can be if one calls the wrong attention on themselves. Unfortunately, Circumstance lapses occasionally into soap opera melodrama, especially towards the conclusion. Misunderstandings, tears, and confessions weaken its edge and the ‘us against them’ atmosphere. Circumstance focuses on an important and frustrating subject and is worth the watch. The two female leads are convincing and daily Iranian life is shocking to those who are unfamiliar with its tenets. This film could never have been filmed in Iran not only because its mocks the regime, but because it shows male and female actors together and even touching; therefore, Lebanon had to take the place of an actual Iranian landscape. Perhaps Circumstance will show up in the one of the back alley, illegal DVD shops which Iranians flock towards to find some real culture.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. jimmytancredi
    6
    I found a delightful film, beautiful script, enjoyable acting, beautiful art direction and everything else ... What is disenchanted is knowing that in Iran and many other countries with this "religion" exists outside of fiction, and women are deprived of many things. The world has gone through so much and it has not changed yet. On the political level this film is sensational! It's a real lesson about the current "circumstances" that Iranian society is found, a consequence of the xiita revolution which occurred in country in the late 1970, which overthrew a dictator and the other was placed in power. The conversation they have in the "rental shop" shows well, and even an ironic way, the manipulation of the media and culture promoted by the government, as well as references and links to the human rights from the movie, which are fantastic. The "submission" of the women to men, by imposition, is also present in much of the film, many scenes that reach right to revolt and indignation. However, the romance part, although the relationship between them is beautiful and the characters were combined, is too vague and ends up being disappointing, the final says it so. I was under the impression that the beginning is the end of the film, was so open that I ended up leaving that question.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

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