The film Cause of Death: Unknown, directed by Ali Zarnegar, emerges as a significant work in a bleak and trying time when the talents and potential of Iranian cinema are being recklessly squandered by the dominance of superficial comedies. This is a thoughtful, well-crafted social film that makes effective use of narrative elements, skillfully generates dramatic tension, and demonstrates both flair and awareness. With his first feature film, Zarnegar proves himself capable in directing actors and making creative use of technical elements such as lighting, color, and sound.
The film falls into the “road movie” genre, which typically seeks to portray the inner transformation of its characters through an eventful physical journey. The destination—whether it is reached or not—is of secondary importance.
One of the earliest and perhaps the most iconic examples of this genre is Stagecoach (1939) by John Ford. That film, too, features seven strangers embarking on a shared journey filled with tension and gripping conflict. While Ford’s stagecoach travels across the vast and majestic landscape of Monument Valley, Zarnegar’s characters ride a rickety minibus through a dusty, desert wasteland—an almost miniature negative of Ford’s grand vistas.
Yet the social themes of the two films differ sharply: Ford’s movie, despite its violence, brims with excitement and comic vitality and ends in a joyful renewal. In contrast, Zarnegar’s film is steeped in death from the outset, drenched in misfortune, gloom, and despair.
The central theme of Cause of Death: Unknown is a familiar one: moral crossroads—where ethics and humanity are sacrificed at the altar of greed and self-interest. The film’s critical angle lies in its acknowledgment that human greed is deeply influenced by social conditions, even if such motivations are not always justifiable. In other words, people here need money for existential survival, unlike classic films such as von Stroheim’s Greed or John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, where characters desire wealth simply to be rich.
Only one young man in Zarnegar’s film resists the temptation of money—ironically, the one preparing to leave this land of terror. One wishes the director had delved deeper into his human motivations and moral struggles.
Despite all the strengths mentioned, is Cause of Death: Unknown a flawless film?
The characterization is, at times, loose and underdeveloped. It offers a general and superficial understanding of its characters, leaving much of the psychological and typological depth for the viewer to infer. Each character has a motive or excuse to claim the dead passenger’s hidden money, but their portrayal is mostly passive and seen only in the context of their greed.
Though the film maintains a compelling rhythm, it could have been tighter and more vibrant by trimming unnecessary details. One example is the entire sequence involving an irrelevant handbag—it’s redundant and ultimately unresolved. The man can’t even remember a two-digit combination to open it!
Scenes like this could have been better used to explore the characters more deeply and to analyze their social environment with greater insight.
Although the director is a well-known storyteller and screenwriter, a professional screenwriter might point out that the film struggles with the timing and distribution of dramatic information. It’s unclear how much of this is due to censorship or self-censorship. If Hitchcock were involved, he would insist that the audience should have learned much earlier that a destitute woman and child are waiting for the dead man and his savings. Even if the filmmaker chose to keep this from the other passengers, he should at least have shown the audience their anticipation. Then, as “Hitch” would say, the suspense and emotional engagement would have been far deeper and longer-lasting.
But let’s not nitpick. In these suffocating times, Cause of Death: Unknown is a breath of fresh air in the stifling lungs of Iranian cinema.
