It’s 2010, and Iran’s government does something almost too strange to believe: it bans the mullet. Yes, that mullet. Shervin (Bobby Naderi) is an ordinary guy who happens to love his hair, and overnight, his hair makes him a criminal. He’s not a rebel or an activist. He’s just a man who likes his hair in a certain style.
As the crackdown spreads, Shervin becomes a marked man. Across town, Siavash (Ali Saam) and his enforcers are roaming the streets, rounding up men, and chopping off their mullets on the spot in a public spectacle… the horror.
“It’s 2010, and Iran’s government does something almost too strange to believe: it bans the mullet.”
When Shervin is spotted by the hair patrol, he bobs and weaves through the city streets—but it isn’t long before there’s banging at the door, and his poor mother is caught between a rock and a hard place.
Believe it or not, The Last Mullet is based on real events: in 2010, the Iranian regime banned so-called “Western hairstyles,” including mullets, mohawks, and ponytails. Filmmaker Hoj Jomehri, whose family fled Iran in the 1980s, found the funny in the absurdity and committed it to film.
The Last Mullet plays out as a satire with an Indiana Jones–style street chase. As Shervin, Bobby Naderi does what he needs to do to sell this absurd story, and he nails it. The ending between the mother and son is quite poignant too. I love a short film that uses humor in a serious way to make its point.
"…a satire with an Indiana Jones–style street chase."
