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Release: August 25, 2026

$7.99

Description

A mysterious M.C. Escher-like thriller about reality and illusion from Iranian master Shahram Mokri (FISH & CAT, CARELESS CRIME) BLACK RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT - 2025, DreamLab Films, 139 min. The latest film from Iranian master Shahram Mokri (FISH & CAT, CARELESS CRIME) is another mysterious M.C. Escher-like meditation on reality and illusion, doubles and doppelgängers and uncanny synchronicities, involving stories-within-stories set during production of a film by a director named "Shahram" - already blurring the lines between film and reality. Guns play a strange and mystical part in BLACK RABBIT: on the film set, we meet armorer Babak, played by the great Iranian actor Babak Karimi (FISH & CAT, A SEPARATION). This production marks his 40th, and he's paranoid he won't get through the day without a terrible accident (his mentor was killed in an explosion on his 40th film.) "I've discovered something important: there's a revolver here hell bent on revenge," he murmurs. The other major storyline involves Sara (Hasti Mohammaï), who is kept as a prisoner inside her house by her husband while she recovers from a near-fatal car accident. She's wrapped in bandages like Elsa Lanchester in BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN and gives off a foul odor from her wounds. Slowly, fantastical elements begin to bleed through, like waking dreams intruding on the conscious world: an enormous prop Coffee Cup moves about the set by itself; inanimate objects talk amongst themselves about the Italian gun that's arrived to take revenge; and an aspiring actress gives an audition in which she does magic, causing a white rabbit and a black rabbit to appear. "The magic of time weaves together apparently unrelated events. A story of women seeking to escape their cocooned lives. A story of objects possessing a soul, deciding when and where to play a role. A quest to make dreams come true, linking these stories together thanks to the wonder of cinema." - Shahram Mokri. In Tajiki and Russian with English subtitles. Bonus Materials 1st ever U.S. release Three ultra-rare early Mokri short films: 'The Dragonfly Storm' (Toofan-e Sanjaghak) (2002, 15 min.); 'Limits of the Circle' (Mahdoodeh-ye Dayereh) (2005, 15 min.); 'Ando-C' (2007, 15 min.). In Persian with English subtitles. New audio commentary by film programmer and critic Tori Potenza. New visual essay: “The Maze: Entrances and Exits in Black Rabbit, White Rabbit” (2026, 13 min.) by filmmaker and scholar Stephen Broomer. Cast & Crew Actors: Babak Karimi Hasti Mohammaï Kibriyo Dilyobova Bezhan Davlyatov Director: Shahram Mokri BLACK RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT BLACK RABBIT, WHITE RABBIT About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews