Postmodern cinema in Iran, remains an emerging and under-researched field. Examining this cinema can reveal both the influence of postmodernist discourse on Iranian culture and society and its specific characteristics within Iranian cinema. Previous studies have mainly focused on general characteristics of postmodern cinema in Iran, whereas the present study seeks to identify the particular formulation of postmodernism in the cinema of Shahram Mokri as an auteur filmmaker. The main research question is how and at what levels postmodernist elements are represented in Mokri’s cinema.

This study adopts a constructivist approach and employs Fiske’s semiotic method. Films are examined at three levels: social, representational, and ideological codes. To conceptualize postmodernism, the study draws on Lyotard, Baudrillard, Jameson, Hayward, and Lash. Elements such as figural cinema, intertextuality, the disruption of linear time, the decentering of the subject, uncertainty, the displacement of roles and locations, the collage of metaphors and clichés, and the absence of grand narratives were used as analytical indicators.

The research population consists of Mokri’s feature films, with Fish & Cat (2013), Invasion (2017), and Careless Crime (2021) selected as the sample. Ashkan, the Charmed Ring and Other Stories was excluded because of its stylistic and structural differences from Mokri’s later works, while The Black Rabbit, The White Rabbit was excluded because it had not received a public release at the time of the study. Findings indicate that postmodernism in Mokri’s cinema is not limited to formal experimentation but is connected to Iranian history, politics, social issues, and cultural structures.

The Disruption of Temporal Boundaries is a major characteristic of Mokri’s cinema. In Fish & Cat, time is neither linear nor governed by conventional cause-and-effect relationships; events from different temporalities become simultaneous within a circular and repetitive structure, described as the “simultaneous existence of asynchronous elements.” In Invasion, time and space depart from conventional coordinates, while repetition, role changes, and reconstruction of the same event challenge temporal and narrative certainty. In Careless Crime, past and present become intertwined, with the historical Cinema Rex fire placed alongside a contemporary situation. Time therefore becomes a means of organizing the narrative.

Extensive Intertextuality is another prominent feature. Mokri’s films engage with painting, cinema, literature, history, and popular culture. The works of M. C. Escher, particularly his nested and uncanny worlds, can be traced in their visual and narrative structures. Invasion draws on cinematic, mythological, and political references and creates metaphors through costumes, makeup, tattoos, color, production design, and objects. Careless Crime, through references to Iranian cinema, particularly Cinema Rex and The Deer, establishes a complex relationship among history, memory, and cinema. Mokri’s works thus function as textual and metatextual collages.

Figural Cinema and the Dominance of Form over Classical Narrative are evident in all three films. The long, uninterrupted take in Fish & Cat, the theatrical mise-en-scène and exaggerated makeup in Invasion, and the precise organization of framing, movement, space, and time in Careless Crime demonstrate that form becomes central to the cinematic experience. Classical, hero-centered narrative gives way to fragmented sub-narratives that require viewers to reconstruct relationships among characters and events.

The Decentering of the Subject and Uncertainty are also evident. In Fish & Cat, there is no clearly defined protagonist, and the story consists of multiple characters and unfinished narratives. In Invasion, shifts in roles and identities undermine narrative certainty, while gender boundaries become unstable. In Careless Crime, movement between historical periods and narratives makes it difficult to establish a single reality. The audience therefore plays an active role in producing meaning.

A significant finding is that Mokri’s cinema cannot be regarded merely as formalist or politically disengaged. Contrary to the notion of postmodernism as an escape from politics, his works possess a strong historical and political dimension, articulated through metaphor, historical references, repetition, and temporal displacement. In Invasion, enclosure, darkness, disease, bloodsucking, the snake tattoo, and the desire to escape the confined space, together with mythological and political references, create an allegorical representation of social and political conditions. In Careless Crime, the repetition of the Cinema Rex fire and the juxtaposition of past and present foreground the repetition of history and collective memory. In Fish & Cat, the conflict between younger and older generations is represented through color, clothing, the desire for liberation, and threats against young people.

Overall, postmodernism in Shahram Mokri’s cinema assumes a hybrid, formal, historical, and political form. Its distinctive feature lies in the coexistence of figural cinema, intertextuality, the decentering of the subject, uncertainty, and the disruption of temporal boundaries. Mokri employs these elements within an Iranian context, drawing on history, politic. His cinema can therefore be regarded as a significant example of a localized formulation of postmodernism in Iranian cinema, in which the play with form and time is not an escape from social and political reality but a means of rereading it.