Ten
A Tehran driver’s ten car journeys become an intimate mosaic of female voices, family tensions, and social constraints in contemporary Iran.
Overview
A poignant exploration of women's voices in contemporary Iran, revealing their struggles and resilience.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- observational
- confrontational
- intimate
- serious film night
- cinephile viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard the film as a formally inventive and deeply humane work of Iranian art cinema, praising its minimalist conversational design and attention to women’s everyday experiences.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The narrative unfolds through ten exchanges between the driver and different passengers in her car.
The car serves as the primary setting and visual frame for the passengers’ conversations.
Passengers including a prostitute, a jilted bride, and a woman traveling to prayer articulate varied experiences of Iranian womanhood.
The film studies ordinary rides and emotionally revealing exchanges with restrained, documentary-like attention.
Films like Ten, and why
The Circle
minimalist social drama centered on intimate conversations and marginalized women’s perspectives
A Separation
formally rigorous iranian art cinema examining gender, social constraint, and everyday life
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
observational feminist drama using restrained realism to foreground women’s voices
My Dinner with André
conversation-driven art film with minimalist staging and emotionally searching encounters
Movie Details
- Director
- Abbas Kiarostami
- Release Date
- 2002-05-20
- Runtime
- 94 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (143)
Cast
- Mania Akbari
- Amina Maher
- Kamran Adl
- Roya Arabshahi
- Mandana Sharbaf
- Amene Moradi
- Katayoun Taleizadeh
Common questions
- What is Ten about?
- A Tehran driver’s ten car journeys become an intimate mosaic of female voices, family tensions, and social constraints in contemporary Iran.
- What is Ten like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Ten as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Ten violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in Ten.
- What did critics think of Ten?
- Critics broadly regard the film as a formally inventive and deeply humane work of Iranian art cinema, praising its minimalist conversational design and attention to women’s everyday experiences.
- Which films are like Ten?
- Films with a similar feel include The Circle, A Separation, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, and My Dinner with André.
- How long is Ten?
- Ten runs 94 minutes.
