☰
Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes

Circumstance

Play trailer Poster for Circumstance R 2011 1h 45m Drama LGBTQ+ Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
86% Tomatometer 77 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
An Iranian teenager (Nikohl Boosheri) enters a lesbian relationship, while her brother (Reza Sixo Safai) becomes dangerously obsessed with Islamic fundamentalism.
Watch on Fandango at Home Stream Now

Where to Watch

Circumstance

Circumstance

What to Know

Critics Consensus

A thought-provoking, insightful look into Iranian youth culture.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View More (77)
Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard Keshavarz's film is both sensuous and audacious if a little uneven. Aug 24, 2012 Full Review Catherine Shoard Guardian Keshavarz uses a trowel to feed us her ideas about living under a repressive regime when all you required was a teaspoon. But she has enough promise to keep you curious for her next offering - if she can just get a lighter grip on the ladle. Rated: 3/5 Aug 23, 2012 Full Review Ashley Clark Little White Lies Bold, haunting and moving; an excellent feature debut. Rated: 4/5 Aug 23, 2012 Full Review David Lamble Bay Area Reporter The increasing fear and paranoia are temporarily offset by witty scenes of young queers dubbing a pirated version of Milk. Jun 10, 2020 Full Review B. Ruby Rich Film Quarterly With an eye for detail and atmosphere reminiscent of Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta, [Maryam] Keshavarz nimbly reworks the diaspora narrative with a fresh, stylish, sexy style. Feb 28, 2020 Full Review Katie Smith-Wong Flick Feast Circumstance is a fascinating and perceptive drama with a refreshing take on modern-day culture clashes in the Middle East. Rated: 4/5 Nov 26, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View More (117)
Faiz D A truly unexpected film and great music as well. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 05/13/25 Full Review Naz H This film is a masterpiece! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member It was so oppressing to watch, but this kind of movie allows revolution and people to actually feel what happens to youth. And my god Shireen is such beauty. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Circumstance is a surprisingly complex and intriguing look at Iranian lives. Various tensions between sensuality and repression, family and the state, and too many more to mention play out over the course of a short story. While not a masterpiece, Circumstance is nicely drawn and worth a look, especially if you are unfamiliar with Persian culture. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/15/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good effort with a story based on a master treatise. Iranians live in an artificially prude world that actually protects them from the idiotic-ness of western world make efforts to go idiotic. Desire here seems superficial although love is everywhere. The story is very well balanced and i felt surprised to root for everybody in the film. May god be great. Maybe god is great. The outcome is not obvious or formulaic, but it does ring true. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member ok romantic drama in a land where love n freedom are monitored Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Circumstance

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

View All

Maryam Keshavarz

Director

Nikohl Boosheri

Atefah

Sarah Kazemy

Shireen

Reza Sixo Safai

Mehran

Soheil Parsa

Firouz Hakimi

Nasrin Pakkho

Azar Hakimi

More Like This

View All
Pariah 95% 82% Pariah Watchlist A Single Man 86% 81% A Single Man Watchlist Boulevard 53% 31% Boulevard Watchlist Beginners 86% 77% Beginners Watchlist Concussion 77% 58% Concussion Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More
View All

Circumstance

Circumstance (2011) Circumstance (2011) Circumstance (2011) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis An Iranian teenager (Nikohl Boosheri) enters a lesbian relationship, while her brother (Reza Sixo Safai) becomes dangerously obsessed with Islamic fundamentalism.
Director
Maryam Keshavarz
Producer
Maryam Keshavarz, Karin Chien
Screenwriter
Maryam Keshavarz
Distributor
Roadside Attractions
Rating
R (Sexual Content|Language|Some Drug Use)
Genre
Drama, LGBTQ+
Original Language
Persian
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 26, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 18, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$452.6K
Runtime
1h 45m
Most Popular at Home Now