During a period in his career focused on children and their deceptively complicated lives, Kiarostami pivots his camera to the lives of a married couple. The husband is woefully beset with problems, seemingly everywhere he looks. As a tax collector, he’s already burdened with unenviable tasks and responsibilities. But to this, he must add accusations that he’s receiving bribes. Even worse, at home his wife—who’s rarely seen in the same frame with her husband—is considering suicide. The film features Shohreh Aghdashloo in one of her first screen roles.