Director: Morteza Farhadnia
Cast: Rahim Noroozi
Panic is a 2023 Iranian comedy-crime-drama film directed by Morteza Farhadnia, following a reluctant hitman who secretly wants out of the violent family trade he was born into — and finds unexpected emotional complexity along the way.
What is Panic about?
Alex has spent his adult life as a professional killer inside his family's criminal operation, but he no longer wants any part of it. His father refuses to release him from the business, leaving Alex trapped between obligation and a growing desire for a different existence. Desperate for some kind of clarity, he begins secretly seeing a therapist, hoping to untangle his fractured psychology. In those sessions — and on the margins of his dangerous daily life — he crosses paths with a headstrong twenty-three-year-old woman whose boldness catches him completely off guard. What begins as a distraction gradually deepens into something that complicates every decision he faces, raising the stakes of whether he will ever actually break free.
Cast & crew
Director Morteza Farhadnia shapes a story that balances dark comedic absurdity with quieter character study, drawing an inward performance from lead Rahim Noroozi. Noroozi carries the film's emotional weight as Alex, rendering a man of violence who is simultaneously exhausted and searching — a difficult register to hold across 88 minutes, and one he manages with restraint.
Context & significance
Iranian crime-comedies have grown into a distinct genre strand over the past two decades, blending satirical social observation with genre mechanics familiar from international cinema. Panic arrives in that tradition but tilts toward character interiority: Alex's dilemma is as much about identity and family pressure as it is about crime. For diaspora viewers, that tension — being locked into a role defined by your family, wanting a life of your own design — carries a resonance that extends well beyond genre. The film's 2023 release places it among a wave of contemporary Iranian productions exploring psychological complexity through an accessible, often darkly comic, frame.
Where & how to watch
Panic is available to stream on K-Time in its original Persian audio with subtitles. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone — no VPN needed, no geo-blocking, and you can cancel anytime.