Women Without Men

The film opens with the sound of the Adhaan as a woman stands on a rooftop contemplating suicide. She leaps in slow motion, triggering a flashback that frames Munis's struggle against oppression. The moment establishes a somber, ritual atmosphere that resonates throughout the story.

Munis rejects the idea of a husband while her tyrannical brother, Amir Khan, pushes her toward a visiting suitor and orders her to cook for them. He threatens that if she leaves the house, he will break her legs. This scene establishes the control she faces within her family.

Protests fill the streets with chants in support of Mosaddegh and against Britain. Munis and Faezeh discuss the demonstrations, with Faezeh sneering at the protesters yet secretly wondering about involvement. The moment connects political upheaval to the women's personal lives.

Zarin, a prostitute, prepares for a client at the brothel, while the madam hounds her to take another customer. She sobs as she waits, overwhelmed by exploitation, and a "faceless" client appears in her perspective before she escapes. The scene exposes the vulnerability of women trapped in exploitation.

Fakhri, a wealthy military wife, attends a ceremony where her husband Sadr is honored. They argue about an old flame Abbas who has returned, and she expresses fatigue and a desire to leave. The conflict outlines the strain of a loveless, traditional marriage.

After leaving the event, Fakhri travels to a secluded villa she buys, a space thick with dust and mystery. In the garden she spots Zarin unconscious by a river, and a man carries her inside. The scene juxtaposes luxury with ruin and signals new, fragile alliances.

In Amir Khan's house, Faezeh engages with a diviner to cast a love spell on Amir Khan. Through a surreal twist, Munis' voice calls from the ground, and Faezeh digs her out before Munis steps into the water of a howz. The sequence blends magical realism with political yearning.

Munis steps out into the city as part of an underground Communist scene, wearing a black chador among a crowd shouting 'Long live freedom.' She is drawn to a radical message and a pamphlet handed to her, signaling a shift from personal oppression to collective action.

Faezeh prays as the gardener notices her, then a dreamlike sequence brings Munis' voice back to the surface. In the morning she awakens at Fakhri's cottage, lying next to Zarin, and walks out with a more liberated stance.

A meeting of Tudeh members occurs as an announcement declares Mosaddegh's government illegal and a coup is looming. They distribute flyers and plan actions while protests continue in the streets. The political climate grows increasingly dangerous.

Fakhri announces she wants to open the garden doors for a party, which is met with mixed feelings from Faezeh and Zarin. Later, a tree crashes through a window, foreshadowing danger and the garden's political fragility. Munis narrates the garden's turning and weight of oppression.

A clash erupts between Shah supporters and Mossadegh supporters as gunshots ring out. Munis joins the Mossadegh camp and sheds her chador, signaling a louder public role in resistance. The line between observer and participant blurs in the street conflict.

Gardener returns with Zarin, now ill again, to the villa. Police raid the garden party and the Tudeh publishing and wedding spaces, arresting and beating dissidents. Munis's ally kills a soldier in a scuffle, and Zarin's death casts a pall over the gathering.

As Zarin's death is mourned and crackdown intensifies, Munis meditates that death is not difficult, only its imagining. The film closes with Munis tumbling from the rooftop in slow motion, symbolizing a final, melancholic gesture of lost freedom.