When We Are All Asleep
A bereaved woman confronting legal pressure is drawn into the troubling story of a newly freed man whose past may reshape her understanding of justice.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- somber
- tense
- quiet evening
- arthouse film night
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The recently released man tells Chakameh the story behind his arrest, creating a narrated layer within her immediate legal and emotional crisis.
Lawyers pressure Chakameh to compromise with the driver arrested after the accident that killed her husband and child.
Chakameh's loss drives the story, while the competing accounts surrounding the accident resist simple emotional resolution.
The film places intimate bereavement and contested responsibility within Iranian legal and social circumstances, under Bahram Beyzai's authorship.
Films like When We Are All Asleep, and why
A Separation
shared austere social drama, grief, moral pressure, and Iranian cinema context
The Salesman
shared Iranian auteur drama, ethical conflict, and emotionally restrained realism
The Circle
shared tragic loss, judicial uncertainty, and contemplative social realism
Movie Details
- Director
- Bahram Beyzai
- Release Date
- 2009-02-06
- Runtime
- 107 min
- Rating
- 4.7 / 10 (6)
Cast
- Mozhdeh Shamsai
- Hesam Navabsafavi
- Shaghayegh Farahani
- Majid Mozaffari
- Hedayat Hashemi
- Sahar Dolatshahi
- Soheila Razavi
Common questions
- What is When We Are All Asleep about?
- A bereaved woman confronting legal pressure is drawn into the troubling story of a newly freed man whose past may reshape her understanding of justice.
- What is When We Are All Asleep like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of When We Are All Asleep as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is When We Are All Asleep violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in When We Are All Asleep as mild.
- Which films are like When We Are All Asleep?
- Films with a similar feel include A Separation, The Salesman, and The Circle.
- How long is When We Are All Asleep?
- When We Are All Asleep runs 107 minutes.
