The Dagger | دشنه

Abbas, known as “Abbas Agha Chakhan,” is a stuttering, unemployed apprentice driver who constantly daydreams. One night, he accidentally meets Banafsheh, who is seeking her dreams in a notorious neighborhood but is still trying to extricate herself from there and have a home of her own. Abbas promises to help her, and Banafsheh, deceived by his words, thinks she has met a wealthy and well-connected man. After Banafsheh finds out that Abbas has been imprisoned for a minor debt, she borrows money from a local thug named Mohammad, known as “Mammad Dagger,” to free Abbas. In prison, Abbas shares a cell with someone who claims to have been betrayed by his business partner and ends up in jail. It is agreed that after his release, Abbas should approach the man’s brother and ask him to reclaim his share from the treacherous partner. Abbas does this, but finds the brother has changed his lifestyle and is happy with his wife and children. After a confrontation with Mammad Dagger and to fulfill Banafsheh’s expectations, Abbas heads south intending to reclaim the former cellmate’s money. In a bloody conflict, after retrieving the money, Abbas learns that the real traitor was his cellmate, not the man he went south for. Abbas returns with the money and takes Banafsheh to the house he has secured for her, unaware that Mammad Dagger is lying in wait for them. Eventually, Abbas confronts Mammad, strangles him in the pond of the same house, and gets wounded with Mammad’s dagger. Abbas is imprisoned for murder, and Banafsheh waits for him outside the prison. In the end, we see Abbas released from prison, still daydreaming.