A Bit of Light (2026)
A Bit of Light is Iranian cinema in its most recognisable register: sombre, calm, atmospheric, and quietly political. Ali Asgari's drama is a restrained, well-acted piece about a man at the end of his tether, and while I admired its control and its performances, its studied emotional reticence held me at a distance more than I wanted. I land, after a fair bit of deliberation, on three stars.
The setup is quietly devastating. Arash, played with a still, watchful gravity by Misagh Zareh, is a doctor whose practice has been shut down and who has been arrested after treating political dissidents, the kind of quietly courageous act the regime does not forgive. Stripped of his vocation and his faith in the future, he resolves to end his life, and the film follows him across one final day as he visits his siblings one by one, ahead of a family gathering at their mother's, telling each of them in turn what he intends to do.
He delivers this news almost without affect, stoic and emotionless, and that choice is where the film and I parted company somewhat. I understand the intent, a portrait of a man so hollowed out that despair has flattened into numbness, but the effect, for me, was a curious emptiness. His resolve never quite registered as a real and present danger, and without that charge of jeopardy the central situation lost some of its grip. It is an emotionally muted film about an intensely emotional subject, and I found myself wishing it would let a little more feeling break the surface.
What carries it is the family. There is real tenderness in watching each sibling, in their different ways, quietly appeal to him, argue with him, or simply refuse to let him disappear, and the ensemble playing is strong and believable throughout. The later scenes, as the family relax and share a little joy around their mother and Arash's certainty begins, almost imperceptibly, to soften, are genuinely touching, and the film earns its gentle, hopeful turn without overstating it.
It is not flawless. I would have liked to see the arrest itself and the events that drove Arash to this point, rather than having them sit off-screen as backstory, and more than once I wanted the film to trust its characters with a greater show of emotion. Those are real reservations, and they are what keep this from the higher mark I was tempted by.
Three stars. A Bit of Light is a measured, humane and finely performed drama that finds a sliver of hope in a very dark place, and admirers of slow, contemplative Iranian cinema will likely warm to it more readily than I did. It did not fully move me, but it stayed with me, and there is quiet craft here worth seeking out.
A Bit of Light screens at the BFI London Film Festival. The film deals with suicide and despair; viewers affected by these themes may wish to take care.
Related on Movies With Macca
More from Country Iran: Turtles Can Fly (2004), A Moment of Innocence (1996), Salaam Cinema (1995)
More from the 2020s: All That's Left of You (2025), The Whale (2022), Look Back (2024)
More drama: Delisted (2026), Lady (2026), These Violent Delights (2026)
