A House Built on Water
Year: 2002
Runtime: 111 mins
Language: Persian
Director: Bahman Farmanara
After a long exile, Bahman Farmanara offers a drama about Dr. Reza Sepidbakht, a Tehran gynecologist who thinks he strikes an angel on a night drive with call girl. The next day he meets a comatose boy who memorized the Qur’an, prompting Reza to rethink strained ties with aging father, wayward son and women he has wronged, seeking guidance when the boy awakens.
A House Built on Water (2002) – Spoiler-Free Movie Summary & Plot Overview
Get a spoiler-free look at A House Built on Water (2002) with a clear plot overview that covers the setting, main characters, and story premise—without revealing key twists or the ending. Perfect for deciding if this film is your next watch.
In a Tehran that feels both familiar and uncanny, the city’s streets pulse with a quiet tension, where modern life brushes against whispers of the divine. The film’s visual language drifts between gritty realism and fleeting moments of the surreal, letting a single, inexplicable encounter linger like a prayer on the wind. This atmosphere of understated mystery invites the viewer to sense deeper currents beneath everyday routines, hinting at questions of fate, faith, and the unseen threads that bind people together.
At the heart of the story is Dr. Reza Sepidbakht, a middle‑aged gynecologist whose reputation for competence is balanced by a personal ledger of mistakes and regrets. His professional world is one of careful precision, yet his private life trembles with unresolved tensions—strained ties with an aging father, a son drifting toward his own shadows, and women whose paths have crossed his in ways that still ache. A night drive that ends with the accidental injury of a mysterious being serves as a catalyst, gently nudging him toward the edges of his own belief system.
Shortly after, the doctor encounters a young boy whose extraordinary memorization of the Qur’an is abruptly halted by a sudden coma. This fragile, almost holy presence becomes a mirror for Dr. Sepidbakht, reflecting the fractures in his relationships and sparking a quiet, internal reckoning. As he navigates the delicate balance between his medical duties and the intangible pull of spirituality, the surrounding world—marked by subtle social strains, whispered illnesses, and hidden addictions—lurks in the background, shaping his journey without overt spectacle.
The film moves with a contemplative rhythm, blending compassion with melancholy, and its tone is enriched by performances that convey both resilience and vulnerability. Recognized for its nuanced social portrait at Tehran’s Fajr Film Festival, the story remains an intimate exploration of a man seeking redemption amid a society that feels perpetually teetering on the brink of collective stillness.
Last Updated: October 23, 2025 at 16:19
Explore Movie Threads
Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.
Redemptive spiritual journeys like in A House Built on Water
Flawed characters find profound change after a mysterious spiritual event.Explore movies like A House Built on Water where characters on a path of self-destruction are confronted by a spiritual mystery, forcing them to seek redemption. These films share a heavy emotional weight, a melancholic tone, and a focus on personal transformation grounded in a recognizable world.
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The Good Thief
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All Is Forgiven (2007)
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Knight of Cups
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Red Dirt
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Narrative Summary
These narratives typically follow a protagonist who is emotionally closed-off, morally compromised, or deeply lonely. A catalyst event—often a surreal encounter, a mysterious person, or an inexplicable phenomenon—disrupts their reality, sparking a slow-burn journey of self-confrontation. The plot focuses less on solving the mystery and more on the internal upheaval and gradual attempts to mend broken relationships.
Why These Movies?
Movies in this thread are grouped by their shared core of a secular character's collision with the spiritual, leading to a heavy, character-driven study of remorse and the possibility of change. They share a melancholic, reflective mood and prioritize emotional depth over plot speed.
Movies about urban loneliness like A House Built on Water
Slow, contemplative studies of isolation and regret within a city's landscape.Discover movies like A House Built on Water that capture the feeling of urban loneliness and a character's contemplative reckoning with their past. These slow-paced, serious dramas often focus on professionals navigating moral crises and strained relationships within a modern city setting.
Distant
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Tokyo Sonata
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Lost
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Medicine for Melancholy
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Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her
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South Solitary
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Longing
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Dark Illness
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Taipei Story
1985
Lisbon Story
1994
Old Boyfriends
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Narrative Summary
The narrative pattern is less about a traditional plot and more about an emotional and psychological landscape. A central character, often successful yet emotionally empty, moves through their city environment, which amplifies their sense of alienation. The story is built through vignettes and introspective sequences, examining the weight of their actions on themselves and those around them.
Why These Movies?
These films are connected by their pervasive mood of melancholy and their focus on loneliness as a central theme. They share a slow, observational pacing that allows the audience to feel the protagonist's isolation and a heavy emotional weight derived from themes of addiction, estrangement, and social decay.
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A House Built on Water Summary
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A House Built on Water Timeline
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