This article analyzes the fundamental experience of "loneliness" (solitude) and the resulting "anxiety" that arises in the confrontation with the "Other" in Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist philosophy. This experience is situated at the intersection of three philosophical-psychological concepts: the awareness of individual freedom and responsibility, the experience of existential loneliness, and the interpersonal structure stemming from the gaze and judgments of the Other that affect the individual's identity.

The theoretical framework of the research focuses on the existentialist thought of Jean-Paul Sartre. To explain these concepts in contemporary Iranian cinema, the film "A Separation" (Jodaei-e Nader az Simin) by Asghar Farhadi has been selected as a case study.

Asghar Farhadi's cinema provides a rich platform for representing these existential conflicts, as the worldview of his works is founded on doubt, choice, ethics, and responsibility. His characters are constantly in confrontation with the "Other" and, in the anxiety of decision-making, either come to know themselves or flee from themselves. The character of Termeh in the film, as a subject transitioning from childhood dependencies to the threshold of existential self-awareness, is the most suitable arena for analyzing loneliness and the anxiety arising from the encounter with the Other. Termeh is at the center of the tensions and conflicts of her parents, the law, and her own conscience, and her existential anxiety transcends a mere emotional reaction to be elevated to the level of existential awareness.

The central issue of this research is how Termeh's loneliness and anxiety are represented in relation to the Other, and the explanation of this representation based on the concepts of Sartre and existential psychology. The ultimate goal of the article is to reveal the link between the lived experience of the character Termeh and Sartre's philosophical concepts. The research employs a qualitative, descriptive-analytical method to analyze the narrative content of the film based on Sartre's theories. The article's hypothesis is that Termeh's anxiety symbolizes her existential awareness of the problem of her own freedom, and the "gazes and judgments of the Other" accelerate the process of Termeh's reification (objectification) while simultaneously causing a rift in her identity.

The theme of anxiety in existentialism is a psychological feeling that the individual experiences upon perceiving the heavy burden of their absolute freedom. In Being and Nothingness, Sartre considers anxiety to be the structure of reflective consciousness. Human freedom is always revealed to them through anxiety. The anxiety of freedom can be called "the anxiety before the necessity of choice." Man is condemned to be free. This condemnation means complete responsibility for oneself, because man has the freedom to choose even in the most restrictive conditions.

From Sartre's perspective, man is responsible not only for himself but also for others. With every choice he makes, he is in fact making a choice for the whole of humanity and the world. This heavy and non-transferable responsibility is the price of absolute freedom and leads to the emergence of anxiety. Anxiety is the experience of my freedom. Ultimately, responsibility, the resulting anxiety, and the loneliness that grips man are the inevitable consequence of the lack of external determination and free will.

Existential Loneliness (EL) is more fundamental and comprehensive than interpersonal, intimate, or collective types of loneliness. This type of loneliness is based on an ontological context in human existence and is considered the default position of human existence. Some theorists believe that man is alone forever, and any attempt to escape this loneliness leads to alienation. This fundamental loneliness arises from the ontological separation between the self and the surrounding world.

According to Sartre, upon confronting the Other, we initially perceive them as an object, but they are also a free consciousness that perceives us as an object. Sartre emphasizes the tensions and challenges that the Other creates in the world. The initial encounter between humans is based on conflict. "Being-for-others" involves understanding that man is not only a "For-itself" but also an object among other objects that the Other can perceive and manipulate. "To be looked at is to grasp myself as an unknown object of unknowable evaluations." This gaze of the Other pulls the individual out of their inner self and exposes their identity to the Other's description, which leads to a simultaneous surge of awareness and anxiety. This internal anxiety arising from choice deeply drives the individual toward inner loneliness, which stems from the inevitable anxiety of choice.

Contemporary Iranian cinema, especially since the 1990s, has moved away from classical forms and addressed the inner world of the contemporary Iranian person in ambiguous, anxious, and moral situations. In this cinema, man is no longer a hero, but a subject grappling with their own possibilities, suspended between individual responsibility and collective judgment. This condition is the cinematic embodiment of Sartre's situation of "condemnation to freedom." This anxiety is translated visually through long silences, close frames, the absence of music, and narratives lacking an absolute judge. Contemporary Iranian cinema has moved beyond "social realism" to enter "existential realism."

Asghar Farhadi is the peak of this trajectory. His cinema creates "the moral drama without certainty"; no character is absolutely good or bad, and the anxiety and loneliness in his works result not from poverty or failure, but from an excessive awareness of individual responsibility towards oneself and the Other. Farhadi's characters, by being placed in situations necessitating decision-making, are driven toward inner loneliness.

In the narrative of the film A Separation, Termeh, following the family crisis resulting from her parents' decision to divorce and not emigrate, chooses to stay with her father, hoping for her mother's return. Initially, Termeh is in the position of an unbelievable "observing object." In the sequence of Simin's departure, all three people (Nader, Simin, Termeh), through their silence, place the Other in a position to shirk responsibility. Termeh is positioned between the two gazes of her parents at this moment, and this state is the pure form of existential anxiety.

Termeh's first active action and transformation from an "observing object" to an "acting Other" (subject) occurs during the argument between Nader and Razieh (p. 49). This practical act of mediation gives meaning to her free existence. However, after Razieh's fall, Termeh returns to the observing object and confronts a dimension of her father's character that can be harsh.

The climax of Termeh's confrontation with Sartrean anxiety occurs after she becomes aware of her father's (Nader's) lie. According to Sartre's thought, anxiety is the point where man realizes there is no external moral certainty to rely on, and he himself must make the decision and be responsible for it. Termeh, by becoming aware of the lie of her father, who was once her source of value and truth, is thrown into her absolute and internal loneliness.

In the courtroom scene, Termeh, facing the judge (who here symbolizes the "Other" and society), is compelled to lie to defend her father. This choice (to lie), although aimed at supporting her father, confronts her with the truth that she has deviated from her inner honesty, and she feels loneliness, anxiety, and despair. Termeh's loneliness at this moment is a philosophical solitude; she has realized that meaning and truth are no longer outside of her.

The climax of Termeh's maturity, loneliness, and anxiety occurs in the final courtroom sequence. The judge asks her to announce her decision to choose her father or mother (p. 59). This sequence is the visual embodiment of the very point Sartre refers to as the "moment of being thrust into freedom" (p. 60). Termeh's anxiety in this scene is of the nature of the anxiety of choice. It is the anxiety of modern man who knows that the meaning of their life lies in their own decision, not in the will of another.

Termeh's hesitation in choosing is not merely due to emotional attachment, but stems from the heavy responsibility whose consequences she must accept. Sartre states that "Man creates his essence in the moment of choice." Termeh, along this path, transforms from an unaware child to a conscious agent of freedom and responsibility. Although Termeh has not yet been able to make a decision and announce the result to the judge at the end of the film, she has unwittingly stepped onto the threshold of authenticity. The film's open ending signifies her "stuckness in the suspended state between choice and the acceptance of freedom."

The research shows that Farhadi's cinema can be considered a mirror for depicting the anxiety and loneliness of contemporary man in relation to the Other. The character Termeh, while being in an involuntary situation, gradually separates from the bonds of childhood dependence and steps toward existential awareness. Termeh's anxiety, more than being an emotional reaction to family crises, is the manifestation of her existential awareness of the problem of freedom, and the "gazes of the Other" accelerate the process of her reification while simultaneously causing a rift in her identity. This article ultimately demonstrates that Iranian cinema can reflect the philosophical themes of the modern world through the language of images.