The past year was filled with bold, boundary-testing movies, from the jaw-dropping body horror flick “The Substance” to the controversy-stoking musical “Emilia Pérez”. But only one of the bunch was filmed entirely in secret to avoid persecution from its home government — that would be the 2024 political drama “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. As of last week, you can now experience the tense thriller at home on VOD and digital platforms including Amazon and Apple.
Written, directed and co-produced by Rasoulof, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” centers on Iman (Missagh Zareh), a lawyer whose family is thrust into the public eye when he is appointed as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets over the death of a young woman at a demonstration against compulsory hijab, “Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife Najmeh and daughters Sana and Rezvan,” reads the film’s official synopsis. (Soheila Golestani appears as Najmeh, with actresses Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami portraying Iman’s two daughters.)
The pulsing drama garnered great critical acclaim upon its world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival in May 2024, at which it was nominated for the Palme d’Or and won the Special Jury Prize. However, its splashy debut also attracted the attention of the Iranian government and Rasoulof, who has never shied away from challenging the authoritarian rule of Iran’s hardline regime through his films, was sentenced to eight years in jail for “collusion against national security” due to the fictional drama, which was interspersed with real images of the 2022–2023 protests that were violently suppressed by Iranian authorities. The filmmaker fled to Germany and defiantly attended Cannes.
All of that dangerous effort was undoubtedly worth it; “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” is widely considered one of the top films of the year, earning Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations for Best International Feature Film. It boasts an excellent 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where critical consensus reads: “A searing indictment of oppressive rule, whether it be of a nation or in a household, ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ functions both as compelling drama and powerful political statement.”
Many of Rasoulof’s filmmaking contemporaries chose the urgent and gripping title among their favorite movies of the past year, including Tim Fehlbaum (“September 5“), Payal Kapadia (“All We Imagine As Light“) and Edward Berger (“Conclave“). Per IndieWire, the latter director wrote of “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”: “That this movie exists is a sheer miracle. I don’t think we have seen the sense of quiet paranoia portrayed this well on screen since the 1970s. The constant whisper, the oppressive silence, the wild cats lurking behind a glass wall in a café. It must have taken every bit of courage, integrity, and intelligence to make this film. I bow to you, Mohammad Rasoulof, for making this masterpiece.”
