Director: Mohammad Rasoulof
Cast: Reza Akhlaghirad, Soudabeh Beizaee, Nasim Adabi
Lerd is an Iranian drama film directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, set within the moral landscape of a rural community where economic pressure and institutional power force ordinary people into difficult choices. The film examines how individuals respond when survival demands compromise.
What is Lerd about?
In a small Iranian village, a man living a modest, principled life finds himself drawn into a web of local power structures and economic coercion. As outside forces encroach on his livelihood and community, he must decide whether to maintain his integrity or adapt to a system that rewards compliance. The film traces this internal and external conflict with restraint, following its central character through a series of encounters that gradually reveal the mechanisms by which authority shapes individual behavior. Each scene tightens the moral pressure without offering easy resolution.
Cast & crew
The film stars Reza Akhlaghirad in the central role, with Soudabeh Beizaee and Nasim Adabi in supporting parts. Director Mohammad Rasoulof has built a body of work exploring social dynamics and institutional pressures in contemporary Iranian society. The ensemble's understated performances anchor the film's observational tone.
Context & significance
For Persian-speaking viewers abroad, Lerd offers a window into the textures of rural Iranian life and the quiet friction between individual agency and institutional authority. Rasoulof is a significant figure in contemporary Iranian cinema, known for films that observe everyday social conditions with documentary-like precision. This film belongs to a strand of Iranian drama that favors slow-burn realism over melodrama, prioritizing psychological observation and social detail. Diaspora audiences familiar with similar pressures of navigating between personal ethics and external expectations will find the film's central dilemma resonant and recognizable.
Where & how to watch
Lerd is available on K-Time with Persian audio. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and you can cancel anytime.