An Eye for an Eye, one of the year’s best documentaries, shows a fascinating, complex morality tale with a ticking clock at the center.
Directors: Tanaz Eshaghian & Farzad Jafari
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 84′
Tribeca Screening: June 6, 2025 (Documentary Competition, World Premiere)
U.S. Release Date: TBA
U.K. Release Date: TBA
For most westerners, An Eye for an Eye feels like something set in a dystopian sci-fi story, where the rules of justice have been re-written. But directors Tanaz Eshaghian and Farzad Jafari show through unflinching honesty that it’s an unfortunate reality in the patriarchal government of Iran. The result is a fascinating, complex morality tale where the viewer can’t help but see both sides in a life-or-death debate, and one of the best documentaries of the year.
Under Iran’s Sharia law, when a convicted murderer is released from prison, the deceased’s family has the right to choose whether to forgive the murderer in exchange for blood money, or have them executed in retribution. Tahereh has spent the last 14 years in prison for murdering her husband, and now finds herself at the mercy of his family, namely his brother Bashir and his son. Eshaghian and Farzad track both sides to understand their perspectives: Bashir waffles from forgiveness to righteous anger, and Tahereh revels in her newfound freedom.
Crucially, Tahereh, and her son Mohsen – Tahereh has two daughters as well, but we spend the most time with Mohsen – express no regret in the death of the family’s patriarch. He was an abusive drug addict, and they saw his death as the only out from under his cruel thumb. But one family’s freedom is another family’s brutality, and every decision, every statement, carries with it an endlessly gray area where nobody wins. Thankfully, Bashir’s family decides against retribution, but Tahereh is given three months to raise nearly $30,000, or she’ll be executed anyway.
At times, An Eye for an Eye shares some DNA with the Dardennes’ Two Days, One Night, as Tahereh scrambles by any means necessary to raise the money, despite her limited resources. Tahereh seems almost resigned to give up, insisting that if she’s to be executed, she will accept it. Mohsen steps in, and the family receives some guidance from an anti-execution advocacy group, but it’s a nearly insurmountable hill to climb. It also doesn’t help that Bashir and his family are dead-set in the amount they’ll accept.
The one section of the film which feels out of place is the pseudo-true crime element, as investigators and reporters reconstruct the circumstances around Tahereh’s husband’s death and the conflicting reports thereafter. Because we already know the outcome of what’s already happened, it makes these sections feel superfluous, and steals away from the ticking clock narrative at play. Though it does provide some interesting context for Sharia law and why Tahereh felt that murder was the only option; it’s much easier for a man to divorce his wife than vice versa.
An Eye for an Eye presents an ugly situation, no matter which end of the ideological spectrum you find yourself on. There should be justice when a life is taken, but can we literally put a price on someone’s life? How do you determine when a murder is justified, and when is it not? If the family chooses execution, how can the survivors carry on afterwards? Even the resolution of the film feels hollow in some ways. Eshaghian and Farzad provide no easy answers because there simply aren’t any.
An Eye for an Eye (2025): Movie Plot & Recap
Synopsis:
After serving a 14-year prison sentence for murdering her husband, a woman’s in-laws can decide whether to have her executed or accept blood money for her freedom.
Pros:
- A constantly evolving tale of right and wrong, where the audience sees both sides fairly.
Cons:
- One subplot feels superfluous and takes away from the main thrust of the film, but provides some important cultural context.
An Eye for an Eye was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2025 and will be screened again on June 7-9.
