★★★1/2

Whenever a Jafar Panahi film arrives, it feels like something of a minor miracle.

With 3 Faces, he presents an interesting blurring of the lines of reality, fiction, and political commentary. Playing fictionalized versions of themselves, Panahi stars alongside Behnaz Jafari in a quasi-mystery/ road trip film, beginning with an apparent filmed suicide of a young woman, before becoming something different by the end.

A little bit frustrating and exasperating, somewhat unpredictable, witty and intriguing, Panahi’s film strikes an emotional nerve if you allow yourself to be open to what it wants to share with you.

3 Faces is playing May 18 and May 19 at the Seattle International Film Festival
(Purchase tickets now)