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Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I've read all the reviews, good and bad. Almost everything bad about this film has been mentioned. It's inauthentic, insincere, controversy-baiting, poorly written, poorly researched, etc. etc.Iran has a lot of good things and bad things, but this movie is not satisfied with either, so it invents a new country, the republic of Tehrangeles, and calls it Iran. There is almost nothing Iranian about this film. Yes, they speak Persian(ish?) but it's the equivalent of saying the movie "Rent" is representative of British culture because it's the same language. The disconnect between Iranian-Americans and Iranians is huge because Iran has gone through a revolution, war and an embargo, while the US went through many changes on its own.This film is the equivalent of a North Korean director making a film about South Korea and convincing the world that this is reality.But "wait!" you say. "Iran is the totalitarian state, not the US! Your example should be a South Korean director making a film about North Korean." But nopes. Iran has a lot of restrictions on society and filmmakers, yes, but this film constructs a fictional country.I cannot stress how bad this film is. Most of it is just shot in music video style. There is a scene where the two girls sit on top of a crossing railing, put their heads together and close their eyes. That's not something people actually do anywhere. That's music video material.So, what else do they do?1. It starts with a belly dancing scene. 2. Then there's playing piano and dancing-ish on the stool. 3. Then the girl(s) dance(s) in the taxi, saying "Turn up the volume. This song is orgasmic" - No one talks like that. It's a hip hop song. Get a grip. 4. There's the dancing on the bridge crossing. 5. There's a party and dancing at the party. 6. There's a scene, who cares what, but we go back to the party for more dancing. 7. The girl dances with her mom(?) as the mop up the floor. They stop cleaning the house and just go full dancing. 8. The family is singing on the way to the sea. 9. Dancing at a dinner table, the parents dance. 10. The girl stares out the window wistfully as she hears herself(?) sing. 11. Playing piano. 12. Singing a verse from the Quran. The word is technically recite/chant, but it's still melodic. 13. Dancing to Total Eclipse of the Heart 14. Some club, somewhere, dancing. I think this might be an imagination of life outside Iran. 15. Dancing in a hotel. Or was this the imagination? 16. Dancing in an illegal nightclub 17. Dancing in a car.This is still one hour into the film. I didn't bother keeping count after that.There are things that show how little the director knows about Iran or its culture. For example, even I know that people in mosques pray together. In sync. That's the whole point of group prayers in every culture in the world. It is to pray together. In this film the mosque scenes have people praying off sync. A group of 10+ praying men all praying on their own beat. You can say that they're praying off schedule (they missed the group prayer) and they're catching up before the next one, but as the shot lingers, it shows that they finish one after the other, every 3 seconds one finishes prayer. The first to finish and the last were about 20 seconds apart. So they were praying at the same time, same place, but some were off by a mere 3 seconds... what? No two people were praying together? Why even bother going to a mosque? It's like shooting a restaurant scene where no two people are sitting together. I'd give this film a zero, but IMDb won't let me. So it gets one star. But to be fair, it does get one star because it gives you an insight into the mind of an Iranian American. I have nothing against Iranian Americans, but a subsection of that particular demographic is as informed about Iran as the average American (so knowing little to nothing), which is fine, but a subsection of that demographic also think of themselves as an authority on the matter because of their genetics.Imagine if Katherine Heigl presented herself as an expert on East German culture, directing films about communism, the Berlin wall, the Stasi, etc. Then, instead of doing any research or going there, imagine her going to Prague to shoot the film, making a ridiculous story about graffiti on the Berlin wall, with two lesbians, one from the East one from the West, meeting at the wall. The Western one plays music through a boombox and they dance together or exchange love letters through barbed wire. And most of the film is about dancing.People would laugh at how bad it would be. Heigl wouldn't do such a thing, but this director has.This film is in my bottom 20 list, along with Foodfight! and Birdemic.

Atafeh has wealthy relatively liberal Iranian parents. She attends parties with her best friend orphan Shireen. They rebel and start a sexual affair. They join other kids to make an outlaw movie. Atafeh's older brother Mehran is a recovering drug addict. He's unemployed and finds support in a mosque. He becomes increasingly religious and installs surveillance cameras in the family home. He's obsessed with Shireen and pushes to marry her. Atafeh's father also faces religious pressure and starts to join his son.The first half isn't anything special. The lesbian affair doesn't feel real. The relationship feels manufactured. Mehran's turn is more compelling. It is sinister and scary. The last act has some good dark turns. I don't think it works completely but it has some good drama.

I recently met Maryam Keshavarz after watching a screening of Circumstance. A lot of the reviews here complain that it is unrealistic and that she has no basis of Iranian culture and that the actors aren't from Iran, etc. But Keshavarz's family is from Iran and she spent a lot of time there as a child. She based Mehran's character off of her uncle who made a similar transition after war. As for the actors, all of them are Iranian. They might not have been living in Iran, but she said all of them are from Iran. And she could not advertise the roles in Iran. Secondly, it doesn't look like Iran BECAUSE IT'S NOT. The director was forced to shoot the film in a different country under great suspicion. This film was shot on actual film, not digital, and all of it happened within the span of six weeks. Which is not that long. The cinematography is phenomenal. And finally. This movie is illegal in Iran. And none of the actors or the director are allowed back to Iran. Ever. I think that says something.I personally thought this movie was beautiful. The cinematography was good. The plot was enticing and wonderfully executed for the budget and restraints they faced. I highly recommend this movie.

when I saw the advertisement,I told myself that I should see the movie but now I think I just wasted my time.Let's talk about the movie's name , circumstance. It's a good name and it completely talks about the movie.first scene,Atefeh is dancing and Shireen is watching her.then at the school and a teacher who blame Shireen for nothing maybe she wanted to tell that they are rebels in school-I don't know why director put this scene in the movie- then they went to the street and a guy picked them up. the movie continued without any clear goal,then Mehran came and with his unusual obsession who is the symbol of Iran's government and religion.At first he is lovable then a scene in mosque and you can see he became a maniac.Movie finds its goal but director -who I think she never lived in Iran -still shows some scenes that are exaggerated and some how ridicules.At the end movie is finished.