THE STORY – Explores body image and self-perception through intimate, empathetic interviews with Iranian plastic surgery clients.
THE CAST – N/A
THE TEAM – Afsaneh Salari (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 84 Minutes
There are few countries more mysterious to outsiders in the proverbial West than the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite members of its government and the ruling and religious class being regularly in the news, the affairs of everyday people are often masked from audiences, save for those with direct connection to those on the ground. Non-fiction films shot within the country are done so usually with strict restrictions on what can and cannot be shown, making the truth-telling of what life is like over there that much more difficult to pin down. It’s these factors that helps make Afsaneh Salari’s latest film that much more fascinating, not simply for the novelty of being able to document something as intimate as a medical consultation, but tying to a fascinating sociological aspect of Iranian culture. For despite the global boycotts, economic depravation, and social constraints, the business of body reshaping is booming in Iran.
In a country where there are mandatory laws for the covering of hair, and where defying those laws can run afoul of not only purity police forces but sometimes even resulting in death, the ability to control one’s body is posited as being at the heart of the wave of cosmetic surgeries, especially for young women in Iran. Where one cannot choose to dress as one likes, the reshaping of a nose, or the augmentation of (well-covered) breasts or buttocks provides a kind of reclamation of ownership, whereby behind closed doors and in intimate spaces there’s still an opportunity to not be beholden to the edicts of the religious state.
Salari, a native of Tehran, is now Paris-based, and she brings to the film both a sense of presence and an outside gaze, mirroring that of much of the audience for the film. She neither aggrandizes nor chastises the practice, providing appropriate journalistic distance while still very much being part of the discussions between both patients and practitioners.
The plasticization of people’s appearance is hardly free from political discourse even in nations that pride themselves on freedom, and like many uniforms or other clique behaviours there’s a direct correlation between certain modifications and the tribe to which one wishes to associate themselves. In a world where “Mar-a-Lago face” is a well understood aesthetic, or the corollary “natural” trend that’s being discussed throughout 2026, these are all differing forms of surgery for particular personal or even professional reasons. Yet in Salari’s telling, these surgeries are nothing short of a form of resistance, a reclamation of one’s ability to make decisions free from coercion or pressure. And yet, of course, standards of beauty are inextricably political, and seeing the gauntlet of young women, many of whom have traveled far distances from outside the city to try and convince the doctors to perform their magic, there’s equally a sense of desperation at play.
Salari’s film is almost entirely situated within these clinic rooms and operating theatres, so the situation outside those walls is one outside the scope of the focus. Larger issues are discussed, including by the director in voiceover, but it’s not as if we see how those in power seek to regulate such services, or to hear from those who say such practices are wasteful at a time when other services are under such burdensome restrictions. Yet despite its nearly claustrophobic setting, there’s a real sense that Salari is providing a rare insight into this Iranian subculture, one that’s reflected of course not simply by those within the country, but also part of the diaspora community. There’s a much larger conversation about the cultural mores that emphasize certain beauty standards, even under the rubric of such a restrictive system that in so many other ways constrains one’s ability for individuality or rebellion.
Thus, in many ways, Salari’s film itself gets under the skin of this subculture, navigating with a keen yet patient gaze the stories of these patients, both male and female, and recognizing that through this specific aspect of Iranian culture one can recognize the endemic paradoxes that affect citizenry. “Tehran, Under the Skin” makes for fascinating viewing without ever succumbing to voyeurism, giving voice to a practice whose implications may be far wider than what occurs with the narrow walls of these cosmetic surgery centers.
