How ‘Cast Aside the Clouds’ Turns a Forbidden Love Story Into a Meditation on Faith and Unity

As she puts her Baha’i faith center stage in Cast Aside The Clouds, don’t expect director Mary Darling to be preachy about the Prophet known as The Báb, and his unique take on world unity and peace.

Darling, who co-wrote the Tehran-set romantic thriller along with fellow Baha’i and husband Clark Donnelly, deliberately explores themes of faith, morality and forgiveness through a love story between two young Iranians: Layla (Parmiss Sehat), a Baha’i woman who faces persecution for her faith, and Dr. Sasan Naderi (Behtash Fazlali), a young secular Muslim neurologist who treats a hospitalized Layla, only to fall in love with her.

“We’re just letting people kind of enjoy the characters for a little bit, before we drop that bomb on them,” Darling tells The Hollywood Reporter after a screening for the Persian and English language drama at the Hamilton Film Festival. Soon enough,…