Director: Keyvan Alimohammadi, Omid Bonakdar

Cast: Mahnaz Afshar, Hame Komeili, Siavash Mofidi, Hadi Hejazifar, Reza Shafiyjam

3 Gilda is a 2020 Iranian drama-thriller directed by Keyvan Alimohammadi and Omid Bonakdar, starring Mahnaz Afshar in the title role. Running 83 minutes, it follows a restaurant owner through a single harrowing night that pushes her survival instincts to the limit.

What is 3 Gilda about?

Gilda runs her restaurant with the quiet confidence of someone who has built everything on her own terms. When an unexpected incident shatters the calm of one late night, she finds herself trapped in circumstances that threaten everything she has worked for. With dawn as her only deadline, she must navigate a series of increasingly desperate choices — each one narrowing her options further. The film unfolds almost in real time, compressing the weight of a lifetime into a few dark hours and asking how far one woman will go to protect her life and what she holds dear.

The K-Time take

3 Gilda is a lean, disciplined thriller that trusts its lead entirely. Mahnaz Afshar carries virtually every frame with restrained intensity, and the co-directors keep the single-night structure tight, letting pressure accumulate without resorting to artificial twists. Its quiet confidence in character over spectacle is what makes it memorable.

Cast & crew

Mahnaz Afshar, one of Iranian cinema's most respected actresses, anchors the film with a performance that runs the full range from composure to desperation. She is supported by Hamed Komeili, Siavash Mofidi, Hadi Hejazifar, and Reza Shafiyjam — an ensemble whose collective presence makes the pressure of Gilda's night feel genuinely credible.

Context & significance

Single-location, real-time thrillers have a long tradition in world cinema, and 3 Gilda plants that format firmly in an Iranian setting. For diaspora viewers, the film carries an added resonance: its central character is a self-made woman whose autonomy is suddenly under threat, a tension that echoes experiences familiar across generations of Iranians at home and abroad. Released in 2020, it represents a strand of Iranian genre filmmaking that blends intimate character study with genre mechanics — proving that a tight premise and a committed lead can transcend modest production scale and deliver something genuinely affecting.

Where & how to watch

3 Gilda is available to stream on K-Time in its original Persian audio — no Persian dubbing or subtitles are included, so viewers comfortable with the language will get the most from it. Watch on your TV, phone, or browser with no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and no extra download required. Cancel anytime.