‘180° Rule’ review; Dir. Farnoosh Samadi (2020) [LFF]

A tragedy causes a family to fall apart in Farnoosh Samadi’s directorial debut. 

The 180° rule in film refers to a set of guidelines for establishing space within a frame between two different characters. Farnoosh Samadi’s film is using the rule both in practice and to describe what kind of story it is telling. It is very much about what is said and what is not said between two individuals who have to occupy the same space, and how a poor level of communication can lead to disaster, even if no one means it too. 

Sahar Dolatshahi stars as Sara, a teacher in Tehran who lives with her husband Hamad (Pejman Jamshidi) and their young daughter, When Hamad fails to get time off work for a wedding, he tells Sara not to go without him. Sara decides to go anyway. But when a tragedy occurs over the wedding weekend, Sara’s life is thrown into turmoil. 

There is very little hope to find in 180° Rule. It is a story that starts off with a sense that something is not quite right, with Sara and Hamad going about their existence as a married couple with a passive aggressive attitude, with their child being the only thing that’s really holding them together. It feels like everyone is waiting for something to go wrong. And go wrong it does, in a manner which is devastating. 

From that point on, rash decisions are made, lies are forged and a terrible situation is made even worse, putting Sara through the ringer in a manner which is numbing and draining. That is also the effect on the audience, as this is a film largely operating in the key of misery, with little in the way to alleviate the bleak outlook and proceedings. It makes the whole film quite an intense experience, and not one that is particularly comfortable at any point. 

What’s worse is that the decisions made by characters throughout are often quite frustrating. The lack of rational thought goes beyond decisions made in grief, they are simply questionable decisions that make you question the logic of the writing more than anything else. This frustration in the storytelling makes an already dour experience all the more miserable to sit through, as the film becomes increasingly harder to embrace. You’re left wanting to push the experience away and move on from it as soon as you can. 

What keeps you hinged to the exhausting dreariness is the lead performance from Sahar Dolatshahi. Her spiral into a woman who becomes much more detached and emotionally bludgeoned throughout is very convincing, which makes the experience all the more unbearable. It’s a great performance that clearly succeeds at bringing this character and story to life, which does only add to the sense of anxiety over the experience. 

180° Rule is undoubtedly well made, and incredibly good at delivering a sense of spiralling depression and numbness. But bizarre character decisions and that relentless bleak tone make this a hard experience to recommend, particularly during a time in our lives where the idea of a story that offers very little in the way of hope is a difficult one to swallow. A hard film to embrace and appreciate, despite some clear talent on display.