Tehran, Iran. Niloofar, aged 35 and single, runs a sewing workshop that employs a dozen people. She lives alone with her mother, whom she looks after. When her mother is hospitalized, the doctor announces that the pollution of the city is dangerous for her health, and that she must move at all costs. Niloofar's family quickly decides that she must leave to take care of her mother, but Niloofar gradually finds the strength to resist, to defend her life and her choices...

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A portrait of Iranian society, with pollution as a metaphor for the toxic pressure on women stifled by cultural codes: a very beautiful idea. Director Behnam Behzadi offers a well-crafted drama, articulated around the struggles of a woman who defends her existence and her freedom to her loved ones. It is hard not to think of Asghar Farhadi, who has become a leader of Iranian cinema. Presented at Cannes in 2016 in the section Un Certain Regard, Inversion does not have the power or the subtlety of Farhadi’s films, but it does have the same finesse, attention to detail and stillness. And Sahar Dolatshahi’s performance is excellent.