Panahi puts together a seemingly benign construct of a family driving home when they accidentally hit a stray dog. But the event is laden with meaning that unfolds as the family pull into a garage for help. A domino effect takes place, with character after character being introduced in an attempt to identify the driver of the car, suspected of being a former government interrogator who terrorised the garage worker in the past.

In typical style, the film infuses the humour of everyday human interaction, the vulnerability of children, quotidian characters and comic-surreal moments alongside the backdrop of brutal political oppression. Knowing that Panahi himself has been imprisoned for the ‘crime’ of filmmaking makes this even more astute, as these regular people come to grips with state violence and a chance for revenge.