Yalda

Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness (2020) is an Iranian drama you can watch online on iFILM. Maryam has accidentally killed her husband and now faces execution. One person can call it off — and only on live television.

Under Iranian law the victim's family may pardon the condemned. There's even a TV show where it happens in front of millions: if Mona, the dead man's daughter, forgives Maryam on camera, the sentence is dropped. Director Massoud Bakhshi keeps almost the whole film inside that studio — the countdown to air, the two women pushed to perform reconciliation as a segment. But the old wounds haven't closed, and viewers are already voting by text message.

Shot close to real time as a single broadcast, it's a sharp piece about justice turned into reality TV, where mercy comes with a sponsor. It took the World Cinema Dramatic Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. A strong watch for anyone who values tight Iranian cinema in the Farhadi vein. Stream Yalda (2020) online on iFILM.