This film by Iranian director Ana Lily Amirpour, came to a cinema near me last night. I loved it, especially for the beautiful wide screen black and white and the sound track, curated by the director (who according to Mark Kermode is an ex-DJ). (You can find posts of the music on Youtube). This film breaks genre categories: its very darkly lit and nocturnal noir, its horror and romance, all set in a dystopian supposedly Iranian town called Bad City, though filmed in California.

This is a masterful scene that reminds me of the bar scene in Wings of Desire where Bruno Ganz and Solveig Dommartin (who died of a heart attack at age 45) meet face to face. See here for an interview with SD about that amazing scene. In fact there are very many movie references, direct (the scene from the moving car near the end reminded me of Lost Highway for example) and indirect, with the mood of Nosferatu in places or the industrial background of Eraserhead. The lead is played by cute Sheila Vand. Though a little predictable/corny/romantic in places, it is wonderful and worth seeing.