{"id":84188,"date":"2026-09-11T23:25:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-11T15:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=84188"},"modified":"2026-09-11T23:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T15:25:10","slug":"review-venice-2026-a-bit-of-light-movie-review-iranian-drama-strikes-a-melancholic-chord","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=84188","title":{"rendered":"Review | Venice 2026: A Bit of Light movie review \u2013 Iranian drama strikes a melancholic chord"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/09\/11\/a09eeb86-1235-480b-896d-936322258cdf_c025a5e2.jpg?itok=pw9g6QX6&amp;v=1789117475\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\"><strong data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa17\">3\/5 stars<\/strong><\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">Set against the backdrop of recent protests and looming war, Ali Asgari\u2019s on-the-nose drama illuminates the grim reality of everyday life in modern Iran.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Receiving its world premiere in competition at the <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Venice International Film Festival<\/span>, <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">A Bit of Light<\/em> is Ali Asgari\u2019s sixth feature film and comes after 2025\u2019s <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">Divine Comedy<\/em>. He co-wrote the screenplay of his latest film with Shadmehr Rastin, who previously collaborated with Jafar Panahi on the Cannes-winning <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\"><em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">It Was Just an Accident<\/em><\/span>.<\/div>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Set in Tehran, <em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">A Bit of Light<\/em> opens in the wake of <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">nationwide protests<\/span> against the Iranian government in December 2025 over mounting economic hardship. The shadow of war looms as \u201cthis Trump guy\u201d threatens to bomb the country, prompting residents to stick gaffer tape in an \u201cX\u201d shape over their windows to prevent the glass from shattering.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">At times, Asgari flirts with black comedy. \u201cWar is a very strange thing; it gives you crazy ideas,\u201d one character remarks, adding that he would not mind a missile striking his old house if it meant saving on demolition costs.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">At the centre of the narrative is Arash (<em data-qa=\"ContentSchemaRender-defaultRenderMapFunctions-Component\" class=\"css-1mniedq ex3nmsa15\">The Seed of the Sacred Fig<\/em>\u2019s Missagh Zareh), a kindly doctor who has reached the end of the road. After he treated wounded demonstrators, he saw his practice shut down and ransacked, while his medical licence was revoked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/lifestyle\/entertainment\/article\/3367179\/venice-2026-bit-light-movie-review-iranian-drama-strikes-melancholic-chord?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>3\/5 stars Set against the backdrop of recent protests and looming war, Ali Asgari\u2019s on-the-nose drama illuminates the grim reality of everyday life in modern&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":84189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[11616,29878,8816,17426,536,29877,1543,28,16123,13216],"class_list":["post-84188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bored-interesting","tag-bit","tag-chord","tag-drama","tag-iranian","tag-light","tag-melancholic","tag-movie","tag-review","tag-strikes","tag-venice","wpcat-33-id"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=84188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/84189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=84188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=84188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=84188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}