Ambrosia

Iran is home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating to 7000 BC. That having been said, I would have liked to have seen more of why the movie ended as it did. This is not a movie with naked bodies and sex. Rather, it looks at life and our decisions. The protagonist, a woman, makes up her own mind, as it should be. Just because someone does not like her decision does not make it a bad movie. To me, it was true to life. The protagonist's husband's temper was stupid but not abusive. And for a traditional Iranian man, he was on the radical left, as many in Iran are to this day.

But more than that, sexual harassment in the workplace is real: How refreshing to see a different take on the problem. I had a sexually frisky boss once, and like the protagonist, I believe employees should have the right to express their feelings and still keep their job. If the boss won't take no for an answer, what better place to tell him or her about it than in the John?

Yes, the ending was cheesy, and the writing could have been much better. But I liked it. It was an adult movie for thinkers. Watch it until the end. That's when it's okay to go yuck or whatever. I just hope there was room for the protagonist to grow. She earned it.

I wasn't gonna write a review for this movie but after watching it and witnessing how awful it is, I just had to let it known here that this is one of the very rare times when I've agreed with most IMDb user reviews. This movie is, indeed, an unbelievable disaster. Please all, stay as far away from it as possible.

Still, in the right hands, this movie had great potential to cement itself as a landmark Sapphic romantic drama in the vein of Shamim Sarif's awesome classics. Indeed, in a world where there is very limited Middle Eastern-centered Sapphic representation - much less Iranian - this could easily have become an instant hit and cult classic if it had presented to the viewers the content that its ads seem to pretend it is about. As it stands, the movie did have great lead characters and decent enough costumes and production design. All it needed was, well, a totally different writer and director. Baharak Saeid Monir (the director) simply butchered up this movie into the dark pits of the worst movies ever made, ever - right alongside some of the most (cinematically and morally) repugnant movies imaginable.

Seriously I couldn't have been the only one that was built up for a lesbian threeway or any girl on girl and then the credits roll leaving you with nothing but disappointment. .. Wtf

Ok it's not great. But I've seen Way worse. Pretty flat overall and the acting is not strong. The outfits are good and the women are pretty. It wasn't very realistic in a number of aspects. The inappropriate advances of her lesbian boss somehow cause her to question her marriage but it doesn't make sense why. It doesn't feel like there's much of a climax, when there almost is, it kind of falls flat. So not 'good' but not the worst.

I kept in mind as I watched that this was not a pro-lesbian movie, or even necessarily an anti-lesbian movie. It sounded to me like a movie where a woman (fashion designer! how cool!) is in a bad work situation where her boss is hitting on her inappropriately.

Indeed, that's what it was. I found the premise interesting and that's what I got... sort of. What made this movie bad was:

• it was unconvincing and unrealistic

• seemed like it wanted to make a point or follow a theme (traditional vs modern, sexuality, fidelity, family, racial tensions) but they were scattered and weak

• pointless scenes and conversation

• none of the characters seem to matter

• embarrassingly flat script, most regrettably at the "climax" of the film

and another point, which I'm not sure is good or bad:

• unabashed focus on hot model-looking women and their high fashion outfits, even with side characters

I have to say, there were a lot of beautiful dresses and outfits here. It is the strongest element in the entire movie, and I found it enjoyable. They could have trimmed this movie into a clothing catalog and I would have liked it. This point bumped it from a 2 to a 3 for me. The Iranian decor and Iranian lines tossed throughout were cool, too. That was about it.

Honestly, it felt like I was watching The Room, but a fashion themed one with much less sex (which I am fine with--I'm not sure this movie could have handled sex gracefully either). I'm not much of a movie snob but I felt like turning it off after 15 minutes. Maybe I should have. But I decided to write a review instead.