Subtraction

This pulse-pounding cautionary thriller from Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi (2018’s “Pig”) sends a Tehran couple to confront mortality, aging, identity, martial dedication, and the toxicity of the patriarchy when they happen upon a couple that looks exactly like them. —M.G.On the rainy streets of Tehran, Farzaneh spots her husband Jalal while he’s supposedly working. Suspicious, she follows him to an unfamiliar apartment building. When she confronts him at home, Jalal proves he was, in fact, working at the time. This instance is enough to convince Farzaneh she’s hallucinating. But upon further inspection, she and Jalal come to a troubling conclusion: a nearby couple appears to be their exact copy. All parties are equally puzzled—especially after realizing their similarities are merely skin deep. With wildly different personalities, their individual responses to this cosmic predicament entwine the four in ways they could never imagine. What does it mean? And how do they move forward knowing the other exists? Full of gripping twists and unsettling moral quandaries, SUBTRACTION races towards a disturbing conclusion that makes it a refreshing addition to the well-established doppelgänger genre. —D.O.