Director: Mohammad Hamzehei

Cast: Farzad Bagheri, Fereshte Marashi, Mehdi Sabaghi, Mohammad Hatami, Saeed Zare

Morteza is a 2020 Iranian drama film directed by Mohammad Hamzehei, based on a real criminal case that shook the public conscience. Running 98 minutes, the film reconstructs the human story behind a murder, asking what drives ordinary people to extraordinary acts of violence.

What is Morteza about?

The film follows the events surrounding a real killing, tracing the circumstances and social pressures that converge on its central figure, Morteza. Rather than presenting a courtroom procedural, Hamzehei peels back the layers of family, poverty, and broken expectations that precede the crime. The story draws the audience into the world of its characters — their strained relationships, quiet desperation, and the moments of choice that define their fates. By grounding a disturbing true account in recognizable human detail, the film resists turning its subject into a spectacle, instead offering a sober, empathetic portrait of a tragedy that could have unfolded in any struggling urban household.

Cast & crew

Director Mohammad Hamzehei shapes the film around a grounded ensemble. Farzad Bagheri anchors the narrative in the central role, bringing restraint to a demanding part. Fereshte Marashi, Mehdi Sabaghi, Mohammad Hatami, and Saeed Zare fill out the surrounding family and social circle, giving the drama its sense of lived-in reality and communal weight.

Context & significance

True-crime drama has a long tradition in Iranian cinema, where filmmakers have used documented cases to examine structural inequalities, judicial processes, and the gap between official narratives and lived experience. Morteza sits in that lineage — a film addressed as much to society as to the individual at its center. For diaspora viewers who left Iran carrying memories of how crime, class, and state authority intersected, this kind of story carries an extra layer of recognition. It speaks to neighborhoods, economic pressures, and family dynamics familiar to many who grew up before or after the revolution, making it resonant viewing far beyond Iran's borders.

Where & how to watch

Morteza is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. No VPN is required and there is no geo-blocking — watch on the web browser, your TV, or your phone. A K-Time subscription lets you cancel anytime.