In the sun-soaked south of Iran, a young boy receives a gleaming Japanese harmonica from abroad. Enchanted by the object, his friends become increasingly fixated, sparking rivalries and quiet power struggles as they vie for the fleeting chance to hold it—or play a single note.

A poetic evocation of the impulsivity and enthusiasm of childhood, Amir Naderi’s neorealist tale of wide-eyed innocence is also a trenchant social allegory. Through the unflinching gaze and sobering experience of a guileless child, good business seems little more than a control tactic.