There Is No Evil movie review (2021)
Although many executions in the immediate post-Revolutionary period were accomplished by firing squad, hanging has been the preferred mode of dispatch in recent years. While the government occasionally stages outdoor executions in which those convicted of especially heinous crimes are hanged from large cranes in public squares, most executions happen behind prison walls, where those doing them—sometimes the victims’ family members—do so by “pulling the stool” from under the convict who stands on it with a noose around the neck.
In the quartet of tales that comprise “There Is No Evil,” no attention is given the guilt or innocence of the parties to be executed; the corruption of the religiously-based Iranian justice system that often precludes fair trials or sentences the innocent to die could be the subject of another film. Instead, Rasoulof focuses closely on people who, in one form or another, face the challenge of “pulling the stool.” The first story, also called “There Is No Evil,” is a minor masterpiece that could stand alone as a brilliant short distinguished by a stunning final minute. In it, we watch as a middle-aged, seemingly ordinary middle-class guy named Heshmat (Ehsan Mirhosseini) retrieves his car from an underground parking garage in the very early morning, then goes about a daily routine that includes exchanges with his wife, caring for his mother-in-law, picking up his daughter at school, and having an argument at the bank. Thanks to Rasoulof’s skills, these scenes are wonderfully well-observed and involving. It’s only when the day comes to an end, and Heshmat returns to work, that we register the shock of seeing how he supports his family. It’s a moment that casts pall over everything that follows.
The remaining three stories concern people who are obliged to kill, rather than choosing to. The second, “She Said, ‘You Can Do It,’” calls to mind an American prison drama of the ‘50s, with the grit and tension a Samuel Fuller might have brought to it. Six young soldiers in a bleak military cell argue over the terrible choice facing one of them. Pouya (Kaveh Ahangar) has just begun his mandatory two-year military service when he’s ordered to execute a prisoner by hanging. His conscience struggles mightily against the command, but if he refuses it, he will sacrifice his dream of moving abroad with his girlfriend. The conflict is agonizing, the controversy among the soldiers heated and variegated, and Pouya’s eventual decision gives the episode the surprise and desperate momentum of a thriller.
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