Director: Niki Karimi
Cast: Mohammad Reza Forutan, Leila Zare
Shifte Shab is a 2015 Iranian drama film directed by Niki Karimi, following a desperate woman who combs through Tehran's streets in the middle of the night searching for her missing husband. A tense and quietly observed portrait of urban anxiety and marital uncertainty.
What is Shifte Shab about?
A wife wakes in the early hours to find her husband gone, no note left behind, no explanation offered. Refusing to wait at home, she ventures into the sprawling nighttime city, moving from one unfamiliar corner to the next, asking questions that draw only silence or half-truths. As the night deepens, Tehran itself becomes a character — its alleys, bridges, and shuttered storefronts reflecting back her growing dread. The film holds its tension not through action but through the accumulation of small encounters and the weight of what remains unspoken between two people in a marriage.
Cast & crew
Director Niki Karimi is one of the most respected voices in contemporary Iranian cinema, known for her precise and emotionally restrained style both as a filmmaker and as an actress. Mohammad Reza Forutan brings quiet, layered intensity to his role, while Leila Zare grounds the film in raw, physical urgency — her performance carries nearly every scene.
Context & significance
For diaspora viewers who remember Tehran's nocturnal rhythms — its late-night teahouses, its indifferent taxis, its sudden silences — Shifte Shab carries an almost documentary texture. Karimi works in the tradition of Iranian social realism, presenting a domestic crisis through the lens of a single, relentless night. The film speaks to the pressures of urban Iranian marriage: the things left unsaid, the fear of being abandoned, the loneliness of searching a city of millions alone. It resonates beyond borders for anyone who has felt the disorientation of a life quietly slipping out from under them.
Where & how to watch
Shifte Shab is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio. Watch on the web, on your TV, or on your phone with no VPN and no geo-blocking. One subscription covers all your devices — cancel anytime.