There Is No Evil (Sheytan vojud nadarad) (2020)
89%RT Audience Score:
Awards & Nominations: 16 wins & 10 nominations
There Is No Evil thoughtfully poses troubling questions about man’s responsibility to man — and leaves the viewer to try and answer them.
There Is No Evil is a movie that will make you feel all the emotions. From outrage to nausea, this film will take you on a rollercoaster ride of moral courage and urgency. The storytelling is eloquent and intriguing, and the acting is assuredly done. It’s a deeply felt study of the effects of state violence on the individual, and it shows several sides to the same issue. Plus, it’s got a devastating cumulative power that grows with each story. I haven’t seen a better new release thus far this year, and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to feel all the feels.
Production Company(ies)
FX Sound Industrias Audiovisuales Argentinas S.A.J.Z. & Asociados
Distributor
Kino Lorber
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
Filming Location(s)
Iran
MPAA / Certificate
Year of Release
2021
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:2h 31m
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Language(s):Persian, German
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Country of origin:Czech Republic, Germany, Iran
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 14, 2021 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 13, 2021
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Drama, Persian, Mohammad Rasoulof, Kaveh Farnam, Farzad Pak, Baran Rasoulof, Darya Moghbeli, Mahtab Servati, Shahi Jila, Kaveh Ahangar, Shaghayegh Shoorian, reviewed by Wendy Ide, Marina Ashioti, Peter Bradshaw, Ben Kenigsberg, Robert Abele, Godfrey Cheshire, Brian Eggert, Akhil Arora, Tom Shone, Christopher Machell, Rob Aldam, MPAA rating, box office gross, limited release, streaming release, moral tales, death penalty, resistance, responsibility, love, humanity, suspenseful, mysterious, urgent, Dolby Digital, Scope, produced by Mohammad Rasoulof, written by Mohammad Rasoulof, starring Baran Rasoulof, Darya Moghbeli, Mahtab Servati, Shahi Jila, Kaveh Ahangar, Shaghayegh Shoorian, Kino Lorber, Iranian cinema, state violence, individual, compliance, resistance, courage, act of courage, humanist statement, effects of state violence, inhumane orders, despots, responsibility, moral responsibility, duality of love, inner humanity, protagonists, smuggled out of Iran, anthology film, thought-provoking, troubling questions, man’s responsibility to man
Worldwide gross: $824,066
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $896,260
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,621
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 97,738
US/Canada gross: $8,063
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $8,769
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,823
US/Canada opening weekend: $3,242
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $3,526
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,825
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Darya Moghbeli – Tahmineh
Mahtab Servati – Nana
Shahi Jila – Zaman
Kaveh Ahangar – Pouya
Shaghayegh Shoorian – Razieh
Mohammad Rasoulof – Director, Writer
Kaveh Farnam – Producer
Farzad Pak – Producer
Dolby Digital – Sound Mix
Scope (2.35:1) – Aspect Ratio
Kino Lorber – Distributor
Director(s)
Mohammad Rasoulof
Writer(s)
Mohammad Rasoulof
Producer(s)
Kaveh Farnam, Farzad Pak, Mohammad Rasoulof
Film Festivals
Berlin, Telluride
Awards & Nominations
16 wins & 10 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (51) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (1)
Bleakly matter-of-fact in approach, the film has a devastating cumulative power that grows with each story.
December 5, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Wendy Ide
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
The film’s political importance is explored with a sincerity that outweighs it shortcomings.
December 2, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Marina Ashioti
Little White Lies
TOP CRITIC
There is great technique in the storytelling, and Rasoulof’s outrage and nausea at the state-sanctioned murder gives the film passion.
November 30, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
To make a movie that ponders the moral rot of an unjust system while under the gun of that unjust system is courageous and artistically potent.
May 17, 2021
Ben Kenigsberg
New York Times
TOP CRITIC
[W]hen juxtaposed against a history of Iranian cinema that has often relied on child-centric allegory and non-specific narrative to make its societal critiques, [it] practically blisters with the intensity of specifically living in Iran… now
May 15, 2021
Robert Abele
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
A powerful work of moral courage and urgency.
May 14, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/4
Godfrey Cheshire
RogerEbert.com
TOP CRITIC
The film is not only a humanist statement but an act of courage.
February 12, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Brian Eggert
Deep Focus Review
[Mohammad] Rasoulof shows how their “work” eats away at them – and what it says about the inescapable world they find themselves in.
December 29, 2021
Akhil Arora
Gadgets360
Eloquent, intriguing storytelling.
December 5, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
Tom Shone
Sunday Times (UK)
There Is No Evil is a deeply felt study of the effects of state violence on the individual. While the cost of resistance is high, the price of compliance may well be greater.
December 2, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
Christopher Machell
CineVue
There is No Evil is assuredly acted and beautifully shot. Showing several sides to the same issue.
November 29, 2021
Rob Aldam
Backseat Mafia
I haven’t seen a better new release thus far this year.
August 28, 2021 | Rating: 10/10
Michael Barrett
PopMatters…
Plot
“There Is No Evil” is an anthology film that explores the moral dilemmas faced by four men in Iran who must choose between enforcing the death penalty or resisting and risking everything.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film on Fresh Kernels.
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