Director: Mohamad Reza Rahmani

Cast: Bahare Afshari, Sahra Asadollahi, Fatima Baharmast

Parisa is a 2017 Iranian drama film directed by Mohamad Reza Rahmani, examining the devastating consequences of acid attacks and the role social media plays in amplifying — and sometimes provoking — violence against young women in contemporary Iran.

What is Parisa about?

A young woman named Parisa navigates daily life while the shadow of acid-attack violence looms over her community. When online harassment and social-network obsession collide with street-level aggression, Parisa and the women around her are forced to confront a threat that is at once deeply personal and alarmingly widespread. The film traces how digital platforms accelerate cycles of humiliation and retaliation, putting Parisa at the center of a crisis she never asked for. Director Rahmani refuses easy resolutions, letting tension build steadily as the protagonist searches for safety, dignity, and a way forward in a society still grappling with how to protect its daughters.

Cast & crew

Bahare Afshari leads as Parisa, bringing restraint and emotional weight to a character under constant pressure. Sahra Asadollahi and Fatima Baharmast round out the core ensemble, each portraying women whose lives intersect around the same threat. Director Mohamad Reza Rahmani shapes the story with a sober, observational eye, keeping the focus on human cost rather than spectacle.

Context & significance

Acid attacks on women became a flashpoint in Iranian public discourse during the 2010s, particularly following a wave of assaults in Isfahan in 2014 that triggered nationwide protests. Parisa arrives three years after those events, when grief and anger had not faded but legislative responses remained incomplete. For diaspora viewers, the film offers an unflinching window into a crisis that Iranian news coverage often sanitizes. It belongs to a tradition of Iranian social-realist cinema that treats women's vulnerability not as backdrop but as its central, urgent subject — a lineage traceable through decades of Persian cinema that has consistently examined what society asks women to endure in silence.

Where & how to watch

Parisa is available on K-Time with original Persian audio. Watch on your browser, TV, or phone — no VPN required, no geo-blocking, no extra download needed. Stream anytime with a K-Time subscription; cancel anytime.