這是真實歷史事件：1995年，伊朗政府秘密策劃暗􅪹21個作家與記者，但行動失敗，只留下一份披露這次計劃的手稿。導演為這段黑歷史譜上後續：20年後，官方僱用兩個殺手尋找這份手稿，因為它記載的真相將威脅到獨裁政權。殺手Morteza與Khosrow如同往常一樣以熟練的手法恐嚇迫問知情者——只是這次的受害者，正是當年倖存、今天仍受政府壓迫的作家。導演以虛構的現在與真實的過去交織，意欲發掘事件真相。在極權政府眼中，真相卻是不能說的秘密，對人權的踐踏又豈止一場夢魘？因為導演身上長達20年的禁拍令，拍攝這部電影本身已是罪，為了保護參與的人員，除導演外全片所有演員與工作人員的名字均沒有列明，濔漫的白色恐怖卻正正成為戲中無言暴力的明證。

Mohammad Rasoulof tosses aside allegory and metaphor for this based-on-reality thriller that chillingly details the evil men do in service of an authoritarian government. The multi-strand narrative follows two low-level Iran government operatives assigned to kidnap a dissident writer who’s written a manuscript that could prove disastrous to the political elite. What could be a routine thriller is, in Rasoulof’s hands, a searing document of the Iran government’s inhumane practices, with censorship, torture and murder used to enforce their whims. Rasoulof defied a 20-year filmmaking ban to create this daring and angry work, which features no credits for its cast or crew to protect them from retaliation by the state.