Sohrab Noshirvani

In Informer (2018), Nabhaan Rizwan’s Raza Shar becomes more interesting the longer we spend with him. Created and written with Rory Haines, the six-episode crime series spends time on its characters even when there is no immediate need to move the story along. That patience is Noshirvani’s most persuasive quality in the work we have reviewed. The series can also overcomplicate a situation until we begin to doubt it, but its people are worth the trouble.

Haines and Noshirvani develop their scripts together at one computer, talking and arguing rather than dividing up the scenes. It is sensible, then, to judge the partnership rather than pretend we can identify which writer supplied a particular line. Informer was their first produced credit, followed by feature screenplays for The Mauritanian (2021) and Black Adam (2022). Neither film gives its central character enough uninterrupted attention.

In Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian, they share screenplay credit with Michael Bronner, and the balance between the prisoner and his lawyers never settles. We were moved by Tahar Rahim’s performance as Mohamedou Ould Slahi, particularly the humour that makes him someone worth knowing beyond his circumstances. Yet the script repeatedly interrupts that acquaintance for legal explanations which bring little sense of discovery. Editor Justine Wright has to keep moving between Slahi’s backstory and the lawyers’ work, and the switching becomes wearing.

Black Adam adds Adam Sztykiel to the writing credits and leaves even less room for its central figure. A ruthless superhero ought to force difficult choices on those expected to welcome his protection. The screenplay raises that possibility, then sets it aside whenever another fight is due. Before expanding the collection of heroes, the film needed to make us care about this one. Start with Informer, provided a few strained plot turns will not spoil the pleasure of getting to know its people.