TASTE OF CHERRY

Taste of Cherry takes a serious subject and gives you very little help understanding it. Mr. Badii, a middle-aged man in great pain, is determined to end his life and seeks someone willing to help carry out his plan. Yet the film never explains why he despairs, gives almost no insight into his life, and offers minimal dialogue.

There are glimpses of a better message. Three men react with horror to his plan, and the film presents simple pleasures and life’s responsibilities as reasons to continue living. But the movie’s approach to suicide is troublingly simple, and its abrupt ending leaves even viewers at a recent screening confused.

This is not a family film or a satisfying use of your time. Skip it.

Driving through the dirt hills surrounding Tehran, Mr. Badii offers money to three men in exchange for help with a private plan. He shows each man a hole beside a road and explains what he wants done at dawn.

The first two men reject his proposal. The third, Mr. Bagheri, has faced despair himself and tries to remind Badii of life’s small pleasures. Whether he can change Badii’s mind becomes the film’s central question.

One star means the film’s serious subject and occasional pro-life elements cannot overcome its major weaknesses. It is depressing and slow-paced, with subtitles, minimal dialogue, and little character development. Viewers learn almost nothing about Mr. Badii’s life or the reasons behind his hopelessness.

The ending is defective and abrupt, offering no final resolution. The film leaves viewers feeling flat, confused, and depressed, with many unanswered questions.

Taste of Cherry presents suicide as a central moral and spiritual problem, but it does not explore the despair behind it in depth. The film’s three men reject or oppose Badii’s plan, and each appears to value life’s simple pleasures and the responsibilities assigned to him. In that sense, the film’s primary message seems to favor continuing life and carrying out one’s responsibilities rather than choosing suicide.

The film’s approach is also inadequate. Mr. Bagheri tells Badii that he once wanted to die, but that children playing and the sweetness of mulberries helped him change his outlook. His advice has some credibility because of his own experience, yet it minimizes Badii’s pain instead of helping him feel understood. The film therefore touches a serious issue without treating the depth of despair seriously enough.

The source identifies the worldview as pagan, with false religious elements of Islam, alongside some pro-life elements. The film does not offer a clear biblical account of hope, suffering, or God’s care for people in pain. Scripture says, “I shall not die, but live, and recount the deeds of the LORD” (Psalm 118:17).

Taste of Cherry touches a serious subject and briefly upholds the value of life, but its slow pace, thin character development, oversimplified treatment of suicide, and unresolved ending leave more confusion than insight. For this review’s recommendation, the answer is SKIP IT. Consider these alternatives instead: