The Dots of a Case: How a Toothache Unravels a Life
A 13-minute Iranian drama that turns minor pain into existential crisis.
Here's the premise: a young man with what looks like a perfect life wakes up with a toothache. By the end of the day, nothing about his reality remains intact. That's The Dots of a Case, a 2026 short film from writer-director Rana Sajadi that does more with 13 minutes than most features manage in two hours.
The title alone signals what's happening. The Persian original, Nokate Yek Parvande (literally "the points of a case"), uses language borrowed from legal investigations β not medical ones. This isn't about dental pain. It's about evidence. What the toothache reveals about a life that wasn't what it seemed.
Why This Short Film Works When Most Don't
What's striking is how efficiently Sajadi builds dread from something mundane. The toothache isn't metaphorical β it's treated as a physical event with real, physical consequences. Missed appointments. Changed plans. Conversations that shift because he's distracted or irritable. The film doesn't announce its themes; it lets them pile up.
Mohammad Soroosh Alishahi carries the central role, and his performance does quiet, specific work. There's an early scene where he's clearly pushing through the discomfort, trying to maintain his normal routine, and you can see it cost him β the jaw tension, the slightly forced composure. That kind of physical detail is hard to fake across a short runtime where every shot counts.
Cinematographer Adib Sobhani keeps things grounded and observational rather than stylized. This isn't a film that wants to dazzle you with visual flourish; it wants you to stay close to the protagonist's experience. The editing by Hamid Najafirad is precise without being showy β no unnecessary cuts, no rhythmic tricks pulling you out of the intimacy Sajadi builds.
The thing nobody mentions about Iranian independent short dramas is how often they're working in a literary tradition rather than a cinematic one β structured like a short story with a single catalytic event and cascading consequences, not like a conventional film with a three-act arc. This one fits that mold perfectly. It's closer to Chekhov than to anything at a multiplex. If you've responded well to quiet, character-driven dramas from filmmakers like Abbas Kiarostami, this'll land with you.
The Dual Title, the Production, and Where It Lives
Rana Sajadi wrote, directed, and produced this as a personal project β which explains the focused crew. Beyond Alishahi in the lead, the cast includes Hamid Rashid and Negar Salahshoor in credited roles. The April 2026 release date places it in the current festival and short-film circuit.
Here's where it gets interesting: the film has two identities in international databases. A Russian-language tracking service, MyShows, catalogs it as Nokate Yek Parvande under the Russian title Π£Π»ΠΈΠΊΠΈ ("Evidence"), with Hamid Rashid listed in the cast. The logline matches word-for-word with The Dots of a Case. These are definitely the same film β one being the Persian original, the other its English-market title. Hard to say whether Sajadi chose "The Dots of a Case" specifically for festival programmers or if it emerged from translation, but dual titles are standard for Iranian shorts circulating the festival circuit.
No formal festival premiere or awards history has surfaced in publicly accessible sources yet. That's not unusual for short films from Iran that distribute primarily through international platforms rather than traditional press channels. Movie OTT has been expanding its coverage of short-form international drama β precisely because titles like this one tend to get buried under feature-length content.
Where to Actually Watch It
The film is available on major OTT platforms. For the most current list of which services carry it in your country right now, check the where-to-watch widget on Movie OTT, which updates in real time as streaming rights shift. Short films rotate through platforms faster than features do, so a live tracker beats a static list every time.
Given the April 2026 release and its positioning as an Iranian short drama, it's worth checking both general streaming libraries and any platforms with dedicated international or short-film programming. Don't sleep on it β these disappear.
The Details You're Actually Wondering About
Runtime? Thirteen minutes. Some international databases list 16 minutes, which likely includes credits or regional packaging variations.
Who's in it? Mohammad Soroosh Alishahi carries the lead. Hamid Rashid and Negar Salahshoor complete the credited cast.
Rating? There's no MPAA rating, which is standard for international short films not seeking U.S. theatrical distribution.
Is it family-friendly? The film deals with existential unease and interpersonal tension. It's not explicitly violent or graphic, but it's designed for adult viewers who can sit with emotional discomfort.
Same film as Nokate Yek Parvande? Almost certainly yes. The cast overlap (Hamid Rashid), matching premise, Iranian origin, and April 2026 date all point to the same production. No explicit confirmation exists in a single authoritative source, but the evidence is pretty clear.
What Makes It Worth Your Time
Thirteen minutes. One toothache. An entire day spent watching a life come apart at the seams. The Dots of a Case earns its runtime by not wasting a second of it. It won't appeal to everyone β there's no spectacle here, no narrative scaffolding to lean on. But if you're the kind of viewer who finds a well-constructed short more satisfying than a bloated feature, this is worth tracking down.
Start by checking where it's streaming near you on Movie OTT's platform tracker. If you've connected with recent Iranian cinema or quiet character studies, this one's already on your watch list.