When a middle-aged Jewish man is captured during the Iranian Revolution, he spends the time in his cell mentally designing an intricate rug. Now freed and living in America with his son, the man struggles to be fully present in his life, though he does develop an interest in his daughter-in-law.

A stubborn and grumpy letter writer is detained in a palace for the crimes of his so-called brother during the Iranian Revolution.

A middle-aged man has left his wife for another woman, but the two still meet weekly for dinner in San Francisco, each invested in the other's life. The soon-to-be ex-wife had lived with her husband's family in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and often worried about his well-being in the midst of political turmoil. Even years later, her concern for his safety lingers.