Tehran Taboo 2018

Pari, the protagonist, finds herself trapped in a dire situation where she cannot obtain a divorce without the consent of her unyielding husband. As a consequence, she has been coerced into prostitution, engaging in sexual acts while her six-year-old son, Elias, is present. In a desperate attempt to change her circumstances, Pari approaches a judge in the Islamic Revolutionary Court to request a divorce, even though her husband does not approve. The judge, however, proposes an alternative solution—a concubine arrangement—and offers her an apartment that he owns, where she subsequently encounters Sara and her husband.

Simultaneously, a parallel story unfolds with Donya revealing to Babak that she is on the verge of marrying another man. Due to societal expectations in Iran that demand brides be virgins, Donya and Babak find themselves in an outrageous predicament, as they scramble to fund a risky and illegal procedure meant to restore her virginity. Soon after, Donya confides in Pari that her marriage is a façade; instead, she is being sold to a trafficker bound for Dubai, where virgins fetch a significantly higher price.

As the narrative progresses, the film reaches a tragic climax with Sara’s dramatic downfall. Her life is irrevocably altered when Pari, in a moment of spite, makes a prank call placing a sexually explicit request on Sara’s phone, which is ultimately traced back to her. As a result, Sara’s husband banishes her from their home. Devastated, she takes her own life, while Babak chooses to escape the country in search of freedom.