Botox: A Magically Funny Dark Comedy
Iranian writer/director Kaveh Mazaheri makes his feature film debut with aplomb with Botox. Similar to his previous short Funfair, Botox hilariously examines family dynamics with incisive dark comedy. Bolstered by its lovely set design, confident direction, and terrific lead performances, this modest, yet ambitious indie will surprise you with its magical unraveling.
Sisters Akram and Azar lie about the disappearance of their brother by telling everyone he has fled to Germany. In time, this "lie" takes on a life of its own, leading to dark and mysterious places.
If you combined Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment with Joel & Ethan Coen’s Fargo, you’d be somewhere in the ballpark of Kaveh Mazaheri’s Botox. The film juggles dark comedy, drama, and thriller elements with real finesse, and it builds extra intrigue by adding a thick lather of magical realism to its twisted, character-driven tragicomedy about siblings and familial hierarchy. The film centers around Akram (Sussan Parvar), her sister Azar (Mahdokht Molaei), and her Emad (Soroush Saeidi), who all share a house together in the Iranian countryside. Akram, who suffers from a mental ailment that’s never expressly mentioned, is childlike, clumsy, and socially awkward. She’s the lowest in her family’s pecking order, and she’s frequently looked down upon and bossed around by family members of all ages. However, she gets it the worst from her brother Emad who’s quick to mock and belittle her at every convenience.
At the beginning of the film, Akram is tore between her sibling’s desires. Azar wants to use their land to grow magic mushrooms for extra cash, and Emad, being the patriarchal head of the house, keeps shutting that down. In the opening shot, we see Akram standing in front of the television, caught in the glow of a Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon, which notoriously feature certain-death plummets that are brushed off with otherworldly comedy. Although it’s subtly featured, its logic looms large over Akram and the rest of the film. It seems to be a contributing factor to her knee-jerk reaction to push Emad off the roof when he mocks her one too many times. After Emad’s tumble, she seems surprised that the results didn’t turn out the same. Azar, on the other hand, is initially surprised to find her brother helpless and severely wounded, but quickly sees an opportunity in her brother’s permanent demise.
Freed from their male oppression, Azar and Akram dispose of the body and try their best to maintain appearances. They tell their family that Emad left town and try their best not to collapse their house of lies. Azar holds steady to their invention. She continues to go to work at the beauty salon (that conducts botox injections), but Akram gets caught between fact and fiction. Unable to comprehend Emad’s death, she chases after a mysterious and elusive vision of him, and in her confused state threatens to expose the truth. As the film wears on it, it sheds its dark comedy and becomes more and more dreamlike, ending with a final scene of absolute magic (easily one of the best endings of any film so fare this year).
Mazaheri plays with the notions of doubles; Emad has two forms, and Azar and Akram are essentially mirror opposites of one another. His direction is understated and precise. He creates a visual language comprised of predominately fixed shots and long takes with the occasional pan motivated by character movement. His framing accentuates lines and angles, whose straightness and precision are in exact opposition to Akram’s distorted perception. The film really showcases his penchant for clean composition and calculated blocking/staging. The film’s icy cinematography from Hamed Hosseini Sangari is truly stunning and milks every ounce of beauty from the natural surroundings. The film’s production design by Adele Cheraghi is also incredible. It’s intricate, yet subdued, and gives the film a tactile quality.
All in all, Botox is a solid debut that’s well worth your time. Some of the story elements and character motivations are a bit hard to buy, like Azar’s burning desire to get into the mushroom game, but if you can hang with its mostly intriguing journey, you’ll be rewarded by its memorably dreamy final scene. There’s a lot of interesting things going on, and a lot of it works remarkably well. It manages to touch on an array of themes, like guilt and woman’s emancipation, and it features some really great performances (particularly its two female leads).
Recommendation: If you like atmospheric, character-driven dark comedies, definitely give Botox a watch! The film will be screening the upcoming 24th Shanghai International film Festival.
Rating: 3.5 magic mushrooms outta 5.
Hungry for more?! Check out the links below:
Interview with Kaveh Mazaheri about Botox
Interview with Soroush Saeidi about Botox
Funfair review
Interview with Soroush Saeidi about Funfair
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!