A House Built on Water

The film is set in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The story unfolds primarily in hospital corridors and urban neighborhoods, grounding the narrative in the tangible reality of a modern Iranian city navigating contemporary social challenges.

The narrative takes place in early 2000s Iran, during a period when modern medicine intersected with social taboos. The film was actually made and received recognition at the 2002 Fajr Film Festival, anchoring it firmly in this era.

The film explores how a physician's kindness is tested by past mistakes. Dr. Sepidbakht grapples with guilt after harming his secretary-lover's fertility, which complicates his duties as a healer. The story uses medical scenes to probe accountability, trust, and the limits of healing.

A boy who has memorized the Quran falls into a coma, prompting questions about destiny and belief. The film ties spirituality to medicine, showing how faith can both comfort and complicate treatment, suggesting that fate may guide more than cures in how characters navigate illness and mortality.

The film casts a critical eye on narcotics among youths, prostitution, and AIDS, illustrating a society under strain. Through the doctor's interactions with patients and loved ones, it reveals how these social ills infiltrate intimate lives, using gritty realism to question institutions and collective responsibility.

Dr. Reza Sepidbakht is a middle-aged gynecologist whose warmth is shadowed by past mistakes. He navigates loneliness and a fall from grace after causing infertility for his secretary-lover, a decision that haunts both his professional and personal life. Throughout the story, he shows tenderness to patients and loved ones while confronting the limits of medicine in a strained society.

Mojgan Ahadi is the secretary-lover who bears the consequences of the doctor's past deed. Scarred by infertility caused by Dr. Sepidbakht, she embodies themes of forgiveness, resilience, and the cost of mistakes within intimate relationships.

Jale Tirandaz is the doctor's ex-beloved who is now a head-nurse undergoing chemotherapy. She embodies both tenderness and the fragility of life, bridging personal history with present hardship and care.

Dr. Sepidbakht's father is a weighty paternal figure whose presence lends gravity and lineage to the drama. His relationship with his son anchors the film's exploration of responsibility and tradition within a changing Iranian society.

The film carries a melancholic tone, focusing on a man's remorse, loneliness, and the quiet sadness permeating his attempts at connection. While it deals with heavy subject matter, its slow, contemplative pacing provides breathing room rather than constant tension.

The film has moderate complexity, weaving the doctor's personal journey with broader social commentary and a layer of spiritual mystery through the comatose Quran-memorizing boy. Over 90% of the story unfolds in tangible reality, grounding the narrative in a recognizable world of human frailty.