The Seed of the Sacred Fig - Film Review

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Here is a film with quite the back story. Upon completing The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison. But before he was detained, Rasoulof, who previously served time in prison due to his other films, escaped Iran and fled to Germany, where he now lives in exile.



And what of the film that upended Rasoulof's life? Well, it's easy to see why it perturbed the rulers of Iran. The Seed of the Sacred Fig takes as its starting point the protests which broke out following the 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by Iran's religious police for improperly wearing her hijab. Rasoulof overlays the tension created by this incident onto a middle-class family living in Tehran.

That family is headed by Iman (Misagh Zare). He works long hours in the prosecutor's office and has just been promoted to investigator, a stepping stone to becoming a judge. The investigator isn't a bad stop: it promises a pay rise and a better apartment in Tehran for Iman's family. Iman's wife Najmeh (played wonderfully by Soheila Golestani in what is the film's most nuanced role) is ecstatic over the promotion, considering it a just reward for Iman's hard work.

Iman is an ardent believer in the Iranian regime. But even he starts asking questions when faced with signing off on a death penalty case without any investigation. He discreetly discusses the subject with Najmeh and a trusted colleague - both of whom tell him to not rock the boat. Iman's work gets even harder when protests by young Iranians flare up around the country. Sympathetic towards the protesters are Iman's teenage daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) who sit at home scrolling social media, receiving an unfiltered look at the violent crackdown on the protesters.

Discord between Iman, Najmeh and their daughters grows. First when a friend of Rezvan is injured during a protest and later arrested, and then when Iman's job (and freedom) are in danger due to a work-related mistake. The family finally descends into paranoia and mistrust.

With The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Mohammad Rasoulof offers a cutting critique of the duplicity and outright terror an authoritarian regime must engage in to stay viable. And he's done it cleverly, using a dynamic we can all understand to explore how fear and cruelty are built into such regimes.

But not everything fits perfectly. The film is too long, and there is an abrupt tonal shift about two-thirds in when fairly realistic drama is replaced with absurdist tragedy. The ending is also a bit silly, the climax a mishandled Hitchcock-like scene which seems off base.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig still commands attention. It shines a light on the regime and ponders you to ask what it would take for it to be toppled. It's engaging storytelling related with considerable courage.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is in cinemas February 27.

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