In a juvenile detention facility, 18-year-old Akbar awaits execution for the murder of his girlfriend when he was 16. Tehran’s Center for Correction and Rehabilitation holds him, where he has been incarcerated since the crime. Now that he has turned 18, Akbar’s death sentence is set to be carried out, as he has reached the legal age for execution. Outside the prison walls, his friend Ala, a recently paroled petty thief, offers to help Akbar's sister secure clemency from the dead girl's vengeful father, Rahmati.
Akbar’s friend Ala (Babak Ansari), who himself has served time for burglary, seeks to intervene, hoping to convince Rahmati (Faramarz Gharibian) to forgive Akbar, which could change the sentence to life imprisonment. While Rahmati remains unmoved by their efforts, Akbar’s sister (Taraneh Alidoosti) joins the plea, attempting to gain sympathy by raising money for an operation that Rahmati's adult stepdaughter desperately needs.
The film, Beautiful City (2004), takes its name from Shahr-e Ziba, a neighborhood in western Tehran, translating to "Beautiful City" in English. The Center for Correction and Rehabilitation, where Akbar is held, is located in this district.
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The sophomore feature of Asghar Farhadi. After spending two years in juvenile detention for killing his girlfriend as a teenager, the troubled, young Akbar is transferred to an adult facility shortly after turning 18. No longer a minor, his death sentence will soon be legally carried out. Meanwhile outside, Ala — Akbar’s friend and newly paroled petty thief — along with Akbar's sister Firoozeh (played by Taraneh Alidoosti, in the first of her three collaborations with director Farhadi) set out to convince the victim's bereaved father to forgive Akbar, which could potentially reduce his sentence from death to life in prison. Navigating the complexities of Iran's judicial system together, the two form a close bond in their desperate attempts to seek clemency before it is too late. A “well-acted [and] compelling human drama," (The Hollywood Reporter), Beautiful City is now presented in a new 2K restoration approved by the director.
"In contrast to the spiritual questions asked by Beautiful City, the film shows how we often treat human life as transactional, as multiple parties attempt to collect blood money, for revenge or salvation. On top of these spiritual and ethical aspects, there’s also a love story woven into Beautiful City, a story about how we do irrational, sometimes harmful, things to hold on to the people we love...A story of forgiveness, revenge, and salvation, Beautiful City thoughtfully peels back the layers of each character’s motivations, only to pierce through to the most honest and irrational motivation of them all: love. Highly Recommended, Editor's Choice." - Video Librarian