AllMovie

Inspired by actual events, director Fairborz Kamkari's intense detective film follows a disillusioned police investigator named Habib as he returns to the city of Mashad and attempts to track down an elusive serial killer. For Habib, the city of Mashad is a place that guards many painful memories. The more Habib learns about the inner-workings of the Iranian justice system, the more convinced he becomes that he's just another cog in the machine. This feeling is only reinforced after Habib confers with the local officials and senses that they are more interested in asserting their power than ensuring that justice is served. Meanwhile, a notorious serial killer is stalking the moonlit streets of Mashad, methodically butchering any woman unfortunate enough to cross his path. All evidence points to the culprit being a member of a local religious cult run by a man known as "The Master," but is his overzealous pupil Sayef really capable of such unbridled sadism? The closer Habib comes to identifying the killer, the more complex the case becomes, leaving the disillusioned detective to ponder how many more lives will be lost before the truth is finally revealed.