The Salesman

In Tehran, married Emad and Rana Etesami are both theater actors, they who have the leads in their theater company's latest offering, "Death of a Salesman". Emad also teaches literature in a boys' school as a day job, he who is well liked by his students who know about his night job. Emad and Rana are not only forced immediately to evacuate their apartment building but move on the spur of the moment when the building in which they live shows signs of major structural damage. One of their acquaintances offers them a small apartment that he owns, the most recent tenant who has just moved out, but many of whose personal possessions still remain probably to be forever unclaimed. When Rana is alone at the new apartment, an incident occurs which is related to the old tenant: Rana buzzes into the building who she believes is Emad, only to find it is someone who was coming to see the previous tenant. What happens traumatizes Rana, who is injured in the process. She also never does see the person in question, but only knows that he too probably injured himself, most specifically cut his foot. Rana and Emad decide not to file a report with the police. However, the incident affects Rana's psyche which in turn affects how she relates to Emad as a man and husband. In turn, Emad becomes consumed with finding the man, whose flight from the scene includes he leaving his car keys in the apartment with his vehicle parked in the building's parking lot. Emad's focus on this matter leads to him not being able to sleep and affects his work life. The incident threatens to tear Rana and Emad's marriage apart, which may be further exacerbated if they have differing views on how best to handle the situation.