Mansour(Hosein Yari) murdered his boss. That's why he's on death row. The killing takes place out of frame. Our point-of-view is from the interior of a shop. Outside the open door, we suddenly see Mansour backpedaling until his regress is stopped by a cart. He reaches inside for a brick and runs toward his attacker with a loaded hand. When we see him again, he's being held back by a group of men. During the commotion, somebody says that the man is dead. There's a reason why we never see Mansour strike his boss. It's not a question of Mansour's guilt. He did it. We don't need to see the murder in grisly detail. The crime is irrelevant. It's a question of punishment. In Islamic society, a family determines if you live or die. The authorities in charge of the prison wrongly proclaim that it's god's will. When we can see for ourselves that this couldn't be farther from the truth. Islamic law legitimizes vigilantism. Ordinary citizens have the legal right to be wrathful. "Dame sobh" asks the audience if the family of the victim should be invested with the power to be the judge and jury over the guilty.
Since the filmmaker doesn't want to break the fourth wall, an unseen documentary crew is installed so "Dame sobh" can unpack its exposition about the particulars of Iranian law. There's also an omniscient camera, too, which may cause some confusion for the viewer. Thankfully, the film being shot within the film ceases to be a narrative device, a nuisance, really, after Mansour's accusers don't show up for his appointed court date.
Unlike the day of execution in an American prison system, Mansour and other men like him don't have the luxury of fatalism. The not-knowing is cruel, because they have the dogged hope that the family will spare them their life. As Mansour waits for his accusers to return, "Dame sobh" traces the country boy's move to Tehran. As Mansour ponders his fate in the cell, he rues the day he left Avi Rahb for the big city. Should Mansour dangle from the gallows, he leaves behind a wife and daughter. "Dame sobh" does a good job of using the flashback to make the present seem like the nightmare that the accused is non-living. Regret is the worst torture of all.
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