Introduction: Contemporary film criticism is no longer confined to the technical, aesthetic, or narrative dimensions of film. Increasingly, it draws on philosophy, sociology, epistemology, and theories of representation to examine how films construct and communicate meaning. Within this interdisciplinary field, Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra and simulation offers a useful perspective for examining the unstable relationship between reality and representation. For Baudrillard, the postmodern condition is marked by the growing separation of signs from their referents, to the point that representations may come to replace what they once represented. Reality is therefore no longer encountered as an independent and stable ground but through layers of signs, images, and simulations. This issue is especially significant in cinema, where reality is necessarily mediated through images, narrative structures, and points of view. Ahmadreza Motamedi’s Misunderstanding provides a notable example in this regard. The film repeatedly unsettles the boundary between reality and illusion through its multilayered narrative, shifting perspectives, and complex modes of representation. As a result, neither the characters nor the spectator can easily establish a stable account of what is real.
Purpose and Research Question: This study aims to examine the manifestations of simulacra and simulation in Misunderstanding through a reading informed by Baudrillard’s theoretical framework. It focuses on how the film’s narrative and cinematic devices unsettle the relationship between representation and reality. The main research question is: How are Baudrillard’s concepts of the simulacrum and simulation reflected in the narrative structure and representational strategies of Misunderstanding? The study also asks how these strategies affect the spectator’s understanding of reality and contribute to the film’s persistent ambiguity between the real and the imagined.
Method: The study employs a qualitative approach using a descriptive-analytical method. Misunderstanding, directed by Ahmadreza Motamedi, was purposively selected as the case study because of its relevance to the research problem, namely the relationship between reality, representation, and simulation. The theoretical data were collected through library research, including books and scholarly articles on Jean Baudrillard’s thought, the theory of simulacra and simulation, and film studies, while the analytical data were gathered through repeated viewing of the film. The analysis draws on key concepts in Baudrillard’s theory, including simulacra, simulation, the separation of signs from their referents, and the destabilization of the boundary between reality and representation. Particular attention was paid to the film’s narrative structure, framing and shot construction, shifts and intersections in points of view, and the ways reality and illusion become intertwined. These formal and narrative elements were then examined in relation to Baudrillard’s theoretical concepts to determine whether simulation functions merely as a thematic concern in Misunderstanding or also operates within its narrative and visual structure as a means of producing meaning and unsettling the distinction between reality and representation.
Findings and Conclusion: The findings show that Motamedi constructs Misunderstanding through overlapping levels of reality and representation, interweaving actual events, cinematic performance, and the filmmaking process in ways that undermine the spectator’s ability to distinguish between them with certainty. Intersecting narratives, shifts between narrative levels, and the continuous redefinition of situations prevent visual and narrative signs from functioning as fixed criteria for determining reality. This strategy corresponds to Baudrillard’s account of simulacra and simulation, particularly the increasing autonomy of signs from a stable or identifiable referent. Accordingly, the film’s ambiguity is not merely a narrative device intended to create suspense or confusion among the characters; rather, it becomes an integral part of the spectator’s perceptual experience and transforms the distinction between reality and representation into an epistemological problem. The spectator is consequently drawn into a continuous process of interpreting and reinterpreting images, actions, and events, repeatedly revising their understanding of what constitutes reality without access to a definitive point of reference. In this process, the film destabilizes conventional expectations concerning narrative coherence and the reliability of cinematic representation. From this perspective, Misunderstanding can be regarded as an instance of contemporary Iranian philosophical cinema that engages with simulation and the instability of reality not merely at the conceptual level, but through its narrative structure, multilayered modes of representation, and the spectator’s perceptual experience. The film thus makes uncertainty itself a central condition of viewing and encourages a critical engagement with the boundaries between reality, representation, and interpretation.