PopHorror Let's Get Scared
Timing is everything for a film release, especially when it comes to finding an audience. The timing for a film like Tatami, with it’s themes of politics, oppression, and foreign relations, set in the microcosm of an international sports competition, couldn’t be more perfect.
Synopsis
“Leila, an Iranian judo athlete is put in political danger when her government tells her to fake an injury and withdraw from the world championships rather than face an Israeli rival in the final. Leila finds herself facing a life-or-death decision that could put the lives of her, her coach, an ex-competitor herself, and her family in danger. In a fight for freedom and dignity, what is she willing to give up.”
A joint Iranian-Israeli production, that, given the current state of the world, would seem unlikely today, co-directed by Guy Nattiv (Golda) and Zar Amir-Ebrahimi (Holy Spider), Tatami spins a tale of intrigue and oppression during a championship judo competition.
Here’s the trailer!
Leila Hossini (Arienne Mandi; The L Word: Generation Q) is a world class judoka navigating the challenges of combat sports: weight cutting, nomadic travel, family issues, etc., while also competing for a repressive (especially for women) Iranian regime. Steadily tearing her way through the competition, guided by her coach Maryam (Amir-Ebrahimi), Leila finds herself on a potential collision course with her Israeli counterpart (Lir Katz; On Any Saturday).
International relations, and theocracy rear their ugly heads in the form of the Iranian government, who, in an increasingly hostile intimidation campaign, try to force Leila to give up her dreams, compromise her values, and withdraw from the competition. Soon her entire family is in jeopardy, as her husband Nader (Ash Goldeh; The Covenant) gives her updates from home, and the “Association” turns up the pressure. What path will Leila ultimately choose?
With a noir-ish visual style, a perfectly balanced script (which Nattiv co-wrote with Elham Erfani; Paris To Paris) and more tension than three Hitchcock films, Tatami is a surprisingly original film in the current miasma of re-makes, re-boots, and re-hashes.
Pulling double duty as co-director and co-star (Erfani also co-stars as an assistant coach) Amir-Ebrahimi gives a tour-de-force performance as the conflicted coach, which perfectly compliments Mandi’s stellar turn as the driven hero. Tatami is also visually striking, managing a beautiful black & white aesthetic that doesn’t come off as pretentious or “art for the sake of art”. Crisp editing and striking cinematography check off the remaining boxes to make Tatami a joy to view on the small screen, so it should be absolutely breathtaking in cinemas!
Suspense is something that usually works, or doesn’t, there isn’t an “in between.” With an athletic competition setting, the filmmakers use the tournament format as an ingenious tool to ratchet up the pressure, with each match a new opportunity to add another ingredient to the already boiling plot. Tatami is a pleasure to experience!
Final Thoughts
With a brutal war in the Middle East, strained international relations, and female judokas in the news (a recent UFC women’s champion comes to mind), now is the perfect time for Tatami to hit theaters. A true masterpiece of tense, taut, pressure cooker suspense filmmaking that will leave you breathless at every turn to the satisfying conclusion, Tatami has it all: a talented writing/directing team, a gorgeous look, and a truly gifted cast. This is cinema at it’s finest, whether it can be an artistic “olive branch” remains to be seen, but it certainly shows that with collaboration between to very different cultures something beautiful can be made!
Tatami is in select theaters June 13th, 2025.
