There Is No Evil

2020 2h 31m FA

👍

7.4

SOLID

★7.4TMDB · 175

Drama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Set against the backdrop of Iran's strict and oppressive legal system, this anthology film tells the stories of four men who each face a moral crisis when having to deal with death penalties.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Mahtab Servati
Nana
Shaghayegh Shourian
Razieh
Baran Rasoulof
Darya
Darya Moghbeli
Tahmineh
Kaveh Ahangar
Pouya
Jila Shahi
Zaman
Ehsan Mirhosseini
Heshmat
Mohammad Valizadegan
Javad

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Writers: Mohammad Rasoulof
Languages: German, Persian
Countries: Germany, Iran, Czech Republic

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

Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 6 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, Persian.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: Germany, Iran, Czech Republic.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, shot by Ashkan Ashkani. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Amir Molookpour. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Mahtab Servati and Shaghayegh Shourian and Baran Rasoulof carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mohammad Rasoulof directs. Ashkan Ashkani behind the camera. Amir Molookpour scores. Mohammadreza Mouini cuts. Produced in Germany, Iran, Czech Republic. Dialogue in German, Persian.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 151 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Released 6 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: German, Persian.
4International production across 3 countries: Germany, Iran, Czech Republic.
5Directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, shot by Ashkan Ashkani. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Amir Molookpour. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Mohammadreza Mouini shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Mahtab Servati and Shaghayegh Shourian and Baran Rasoulof carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt11697844 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "death penalty", "marriage proposal", "birthday party", "military service".
11Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Ashkan Ashkani
Original score: Amir Molookpour
Editing: Mohammadreza Mouini
Production design: Saeid Asadi
Makeup / hair: Mahmoud Dehghani
VFX supervisor: Mohammad Lotfali
Sound: Philipp Kemptner
Stunt coordinator: Amir Badri
Runtime: 151 min · 2h 31m
Status: Released
Box office: $54,967
Original language: FA
IMDB: There Is No Evil (2020)

Awards

Golden Bear

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Mohammad Rasoulof

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

badelf2025-11-13
★ 8/10
Kudos to Mohammad Rasoulof for making a film banned by Iran's authoritarian government. The subject matter alone demonstrates extraordinary courage: four separate stories exploring how ordinary people navigate complicity, conscience, resistance, and moral responsibility when faced with, or forced into, state-sanctioned execution. What makes "There Is No Evil" particularly powerful is how it refuses easy answers. Each segment presents a different relationship to capital punishment—those who participate, those who refuse, those who live with the consequences, those who flee. Rasoulof understands that evil isn't an abstract force but the accumulation of choices made under pressure, the compromises ordinary people make to survive within brutal systems. It's tempting to view this as a distant problem, something happening in a country fairly remote to the Western world. But that distance is an illusion. The trend of governments in the Western world is moving toward the authoritarian mode of Iran. Maybe not as severe yet, but nonetheless a profound concern for those of us who believe in humanitarian rights. "There Is No Evil" isn't just about Iran; it's a warning about what happens when citizens stop resisting, when complicity becomes normalized, when good people choose silence. This is a powerful film. It really hits hard.

Production companies