When prostitute and single mum Pari moves in to an apartment with her mute son, she unintentionally befriends her new neighbour Sara. Sara is a middle class mullah who seemingly has a perfect family life but who too hides her own secrets; and so the company of Pari is a welcome escape. The lives of the two women become further intertwined with that of a young musician and the girl for whom he is trying to raise money for an illegal operation following a night they spent together in a club. As stories of sex, drugs and corruption unravel, the lives of the unlikely allies prove more alike than they think – perhaps the consequences of the restrictions Iranian society has put up upon them.

Lively and captivating while unravelling the unknown stories behind a traditional Iranian society, Tehran Taboo has earned comparisons to the likes of Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. A combination of rotoscoped animation and an eye-popping colour palette give the film’s aesthetics a unique and compelling comic book feel.