It Means Hope (2026)

-Written by Edmund Robertson. 

With the prevalence that news media has in our world today and the rapidly shifting attention spans of today’s culture, there is constantly a need for clear answers about some of the most pressing current events and conflicts worldwide. This understanding of the modern spread of information can often lead to victims of horrific tragedies being exploited, often placing the need for a controlled public narrative over the actual emotions of these victims. The disconnect between subject and reporters in news media is placed front and center in Writer-Director Shadi Karamroudi’s short film It Means Hope, in which an Iranian woman named Sonia (Sonia Sanjari) is uncomfortable being forced to disclose details regarding the death of her sister in front of a film crew, finding comfort in expressing her true emotions to a makeup artist named Hanie Taheri (Karamroudi).

The constant tension within It Means Hope is captured in the stark contrast between Sonia’s grieving of her sister amidst a genocidal regime and the director Youset’s (Esmail Kamali Dehghan) control over how her narrative is presented to the public. This control is expertly represented visually by Youset’s demand for the application of makeup to Sonia’s face in order to hide a black eye. Given that the media video being filmed of Sonia revolves around the public disclosure of information, one might question the need to cover the subject in makeup. Consequently, Youset’s refusal to take Sonia’s discomfort with being forced to read a prewritten statement as opposed to providing her own account of the situation proves even more troubling to the journalistic integrity of the whole operation.

As It Means Hope seeks to point out the obfuscation of truth through emotionless neutrality performed by media outlets, the events of the short play out with no musical score accompanying them, preventing the viewers from succumbing to emotional manipulation and letting Sonia’s emotions play out in real time. This more grounded and realistic approach toward depicting its narrative draws attention to the inherent artifice of the news media as a green screen backdrop covers the drab walls of the office building that the video is being filmed in. The overly controlled environment of the film set also brings forward the point that emotional sincerity can be found more in quiet, private moments as Sonia takes more comfort in expressing the truth of what happened to her sister to Hanie even as she is applying makeup to her face.

Despite its critiques of the manipulative ways in which news outlets sanitize tragedy, It Means Hope is not an actively angry film, wisely choosing instead to empathize with its central characters and bring its focus towards the emotions that they wish to express to each other. In doing so, it mirrors a lot of the disillusionment I have been feeling about the soullessness of the news cycle without lecturing to its audience about why it can be so damaging. Sometimes, the most profound observations about our modern world can be found in pure emotional expression and It Means Hope is effective in demonstrating that fact.

Directed by Shadi Karamroudi.

Written by Shadi Karamroudi and Arian Vazirdaftari.

Starring Sonia Sanjari, Shadi Karamroudi, & Esmail Kamali Dehghan.

8.5/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING