Reza and Leila, an attractive and affluent young couple deeply in love and recently married, discover that Leila is unable to conceive. Invoking tradition, Reza's mother convinces her daughter-in-law that Reza must, out of necessity, talk a second wife to produce an heir. The heartbreak that follows is "in a word, devastating."

Called "the most interesting and accomplished filmmaker the United States has never heard of" by Godfrey Cheshire in The New York Times, Mehrjui has become more familiar to audiences with the critical and box office success of Leila which topped the critics' lists for best films of 1999.

"One of the top ten films of the year! Provocative, wise and brilliant!" - The Village Voice

"Beautifully shot, expertly acted and directed by an astute social critic and an ingeniously distinctive stylist." - The New York Press