It’s a secret… but you should go see it (CREDIT: NEON)

Starring: Misagh Zare, Sohelia Golestani, Mahsa Rostami, Setareh Maleki, Niousha Akhshi, Reza Akhlaghi, Shiva Ordooei, Amineh Arani

Director: Mohammad Rasoulof

Running Time: 168 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Bloody Injuries and Disturbing Threats

Release Date: November 27, 2024 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: The Seed of the Sacred Fig was shot entirely in secret, possibly because the ideas that writer-director Mohammad Rasoulof is exploring threaten to upset the entire structure of modern Iranian society. A lawyer named Iman (Misagh Zare) has recently been given a prestigious promotion as a judge in Tehran, which keeps him away from his wife Najmeh (Sohelia Golestani) and daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) for long stretches. With the nation roiled by political protests, Iman dutifully toes the line of the state, despite the violent official responses. Meanwhile, he’s barely aware of the tension brewing within his own household, with Rezvan and Sana feeling much more inclined to agree with the protesters, especially after a friend of theirs is grievously injured at a demonstration. It all comes to a head when Iman’s government-issued handgun goes missing. He suspects that a member of his family is undermining him, and he’s willing to take extreme measures to uncover the truth.

What Made an Impression?: Iran in Microcosm: Reports about the current political situation in Iran have been disseminated in unexpected ways, at least from my vantage point. There was an episode of the Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast with someone describing the situation firsthand while having his voice altered, and now there’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig. It feels like an urgent warning from Rasoulof and his cast and crew about the oppression that women and young people are facing. Iman’s standoff with his daughters arrives as a stark metaphor of the fight between Iran and its citizens. He feels duty- and honor-bound to be the good patriarch, but he loses his grip on reason and sanity after he takes ever more desperate steps to maintain control. Rezvan and Sana make perfunctory attempts to state their case with reason and evidence, but they’re just as willing to go to extremes to protect their own freedom.
A Slow and Steady Boil: The Seed of the Sacred Fig stretches to nearly three hours, despite taking place over the course of just a few weeks, if that. But that small stretch of time is long enough to come to a lifetime’s worth of epiphanies. The first half or so is sufficiently claustrophobic to make you feel restless, as it’s mostly confined to the family’s modest home and Iman’s dimly lit workspaces. As the action spreads out in the climax, you might find yourself amazed at how much tension has been coiling up that whole time. It’s an epic statement on an intimate scale, with a violent release serving as the unforgettable punctuation.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is Recommended If You Like: Revolution crossed with dysfunctional family dynamics

Grade: 4 out of 5 Protests