Out of Mesopotamia

Saleh is a middle-aged art critic for a Tehran newspaper whose life has grown meaningless. Approaching the world with a cynicism verging on despair and looking for renewed purpose, he joins up with a Shia militia fighting ISIS, chronicling the lives of “martyred” soldiers and sometimes engaging in the action. He discovers something he needs in the bravery of his comrades (however foolish it may sometimes be), the idealism of the soon-to-be martyrs, and even the boredom and utter absurdity of his ragtag military life. While on the front, he finds a volume of Proust—subversive literature in Iran—and buries it where he is stationed. When it’s discovered, word gets back to his government handler H., arousing more suspicion about his loyalty even as H. demands that he write a patriotic drama for state TV. If that’s not enough, Atia, the woman he loves, breaks his heart by marrying their boss.