Director: Kazem Mollaie

Cast: Mojtaba Alizadeh, Nazanin Farahani, Hossein Ghayebi Shabahang, Levon Haftvan, Pouria Rahimi

Kupal is a 2017 Iranian drama film directed by Kazem Mollaie, following a hunter and amateur taxidermist known as Dr. Ahmad Kupal through the final hours of the year — a quiet, introspective portrait of one man caught between his private rituals and an unseen reckoning.

What is Kupal about?

Dr. Ahmad Kupal has built his life around two solitary pursuits: hunting in the wild and preserving what he brings back through taxidermy. As the last day of the year counts down to midnight, something unexpected breaks into his carefully ordered world. The film unfolds almost entirely within that compressed window of time, watching a man who is accustomed to stillness suddenly confronted with a pressure he did not anticipate. Mollaie keeps the stakes understated — there are no grand confrontations, only the slow tightening of an ordinary life under an extraordinary moment. The result is a character study that rewards patient viewers willing to sit with ambiguity.

Cast & crew

Mojtaba Alizadeh leads as the withdrawn Dr. Kupal, anchoring a sparse ensemble that includes Nazanin Farahani, Hossein Ghayebi Shabahang, Levon Haftvan, Pouria Rahimi, Vahan Salimzadeh, and Hossein Shamsabadi. Director Kazem Mollaie works with a tight, restrained cast to keep attention fixed on a single man's interior world during a narrow but charged stretch of time.

Context & significance

Iranian cinema has long excelled at slow-burn character portraits where the drama lives in what is left unsaid — films that fold large emotional weight into small, everyday moments. Kupal fits squarely within that tradition. For diaspora viewers who grew up watching the Persian New Year arrive with noise and celebration, Mollaie turns that familiar countdown into something quieter and more unsettling. The taxidermy motif — preserving the past, arresting change — carries a resonance that feels especially pointed for audiences living between two worlds. At 81 minutes, the film asks little of your schedule but much of your attention.

Where & how to watch

Kupal is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. No VPN is needed — K-Time has no geo-blocking. Watch on the web, your TV, or your phone. Subscription is flexible with cancel anytime.