Two & Two

2011 0h 8m FA

👍

7.1

SOLID

★7.1TMDB · 26

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In a drab, anonymous gray school governed by a strict authoritarian regime, an apparently unremarkable day is turned on its head following a seemingly ridiculous announcement. Disbelieving at first, the all male, identically uniformed pupils are informed that what they had always been taught as fact is no longer true. When the incredulous students speak out, what initially seems laughably absurd becomes desperately real as they are forced to question how far they will go to stand up for their beliefs. Two & Two is an allegory for the absurdness of dictatorship and tyranny - and the resilience of the human spirit.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Bijan Daneshmand
Teacher
Ravi Karimi
Student 1
Pouyan Loti
Student 2
Kourosh Shirazi

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Babak Anvari
Writers: Babak Anvari, Gavin Cullen
Languages: Persian
Countries: Iran, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Tight 8-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 15 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Iran, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Babak Anvari, shot by Kit Fraser. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Anthony Bairstow shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bijan Daneshmand and Ravi Karimi and Pouyan Loti carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt1701187 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Babak Anvari directs. Kit Fraser behind the camera. Anthony Bairstow cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Iran, United Kingdom. Dialogue in Persian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Tight 8-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
2Released 15 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: Iran, United Kingdom.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Babak Anvari, shot by Kit Fraser. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Anthony Bairstow shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Bijan Daneshmand and Ravi Karimi and Pouyan Loti carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt1701187 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 26 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 8 themes, including "resistance", "truth", "education", "dictatorship".

The technical file

Cinematography: Kit Fraser
Editing: Anthony Bairstow
Production design: Andrew Paul Littlefair
Costume design: Marko Domazet
Sound: Rebecca Parnell
Runtime: 8 min · 0h 8m
Status: Released
Original language: FA
IMDB: Two & Two (2011)

Also by

Babak Anvari

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-04-08
★ 6/10
In a schoolroom populated by identically clad young students, the teacher arrives at 8am precisely to make quite a startling announcement. 2 + 2 = 5!! He then proceeds to ram that home, despite protestations from the children that this is just plain wrong! As they become more emphatic, a mini-rebellion broods and the teacher drafts in some moral support from older pupils who trot out the desired answer parrot-fashion before presenting a firing squad to the pupil who still insists it's four not five. This short film demonstrates quite an interesting concept. That of indoctrination, especially when driven by fear. It also, though, shows us a little of a defiant human spirit and that works quite well from the boys in the face of their oppressive teacher in public or surreptitiously. As a piece of cinema it's unremarkably filmed, somewhat implausible and repetitive - maybe the latter criticism helps it prove it's point, but when you're watching you get the gist way before the end. Interesting, though.

Production companies