Greetings again from the darkness. What a downer this one is! That may seem a harsh thing to say about a movie, but it’s actually a compliment to writer-director Sasha Nathwani on his first feature film, co-written by Helen Simmons. Few films take on the reality of life that can sometimes be cruel or even savage. This film, and the young(ish) performers never shy away from the tough stuff, and the result is a film that’s not a pleasure to watch in the traditional sense, but quite so from a human perspective.
Ziba (the stunning Deba Hekmat, HOARD, 2023) is dealing with a serious (and unspecified) medical issue that requires medication and regular blood tests. The doctor needs her to come in to learn the latest results – the kind that won’t be revealed over the phone. Instead, it’s A-level results day, where students receive their final term grades. This is followed by a group of friends gathering to hang out and chill. Ziba is Iranian-British and her grades, her friends, and her instructors all recognize her as a brilliant student … yet she alone carries this secret.
Ziba and her best friends and fellow students: Tara (Lydia Fleming), the rambunctious one; Shea (Solly McLeod), the somewhat self-conscious tough guy; and Merf (Jay Cycurgo), the mysterious one, are joined for the day by Malcolm (Denzel Baidoo), a footballer who just learned that he’s been cut by his team. This is the first meeting between Ziba and Malcolm, and everyone senses the immediate attraction.
The day proceeds as the group hangs out and chats. Ziba tosses out a big question, “Are you a good person?” Confessions and self-reflection take over as the group goes down the line. By this time, the others have noticed something is amiss with Ziba. She continues to speak of her future at UCL (University College of London), yet her goody-two-shoes reputation takes a hit or two. It’s her love of astrophysics that inspired her to fill out the night section of the day’s schedule with the rare celestial event (meteor shower) that will wow the group.
An overall pretty good day leads to a shocking turn and has Ziba questioning the last entry on the day’s schedule … one that only appeared on her copy. Above all, filmmaker Sasha Nathwani captures the power and intimacy of close friends, and how this support is so crucial to life’s decisions (even the secret ones).
Available on VOD beginning July 25, 2025
Posted by David Ferguson 
Greetings again from the darkness. It’s fairly common for a film to open with a dramatic scene and then take us back for a period of time to show how the story arrived at this point. Of course, the other logical option would be to have that scene serve as the beginning of the story. What happens with this film is rare: The storytelling goes backwards AND forwards. We learn how the characters got to this point and we learn what happens after this moment. The person to thank for this is writer-director Viggo Mortensen. Highly regarded as an actor for years, Mortensen had one previous filmmaking project, FALLING (2020), which made the festival rounds.
Movie Reviews from the Dark 