‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ reviews: The ‘gripping’ and ‘brilliant’ Oscar contender releases in limited theaters
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” released in limited theaters on Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2024, so now is the perfect time to check out some of its glowing critics’ reviews.
First up, a bit of a primer. This Persian language political thriller comes from Iranian writer-director Mohammad Rasoulof, but it’s actually Germany’s Oscars submission for Best International Feature because Rasoulof has fled political persecution in his native country. The plot follows an investigating judge (Missagh Zareh) who grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun disappears, he suspects his wife (Soheila Golestani) and daughters, and imposes fearful measures that strain family ties all while societal rules crumble.
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During the Cannes Film Festival, Rasoulof discussed the government’s targeting of him and his films in an interview with The Guardian, saying, “Like any other dictatorship or totalitarian system, they want absolute control over images they don’t like that confront the reality of their own being and their own system. They’re just trying to scare everyone and to push everyone out of any attempt to make films or express themselves or use their freedom just because of this illusion of control. And so my message to my peers, to other film-makers, is: there are ways.”
SEE Watch the ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ trailer
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from 58 total reviews. It has a running time of two hours, 47 minutes, and is rated PG-13. Here is what the critics are saying:
Robbie Collin (The Telegraph): “The film itself is a mesmerisingly gripping and controlled parable-thriller in which the paranoia, misogyny and rage of the Iranian state are mapped seamlessly onto an ordinary family unit.”
Gregory Ellwood (The Playlist): “A victim of a politically motivated jail sentence for supporting the 2022 Masha Amini hijab protests, Rasoulof‘s latest feature will likely anger the Iranian government even more. Especially considering how brilliant ‘Sacred Fig’ is at deconstructing the rampant injustice in the totalitarian state.”
Alissa Wilkinson (The New York Times): “‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ asks us to enter a family’s story, but also to acknowledge that we are part of it. We’re extras in the background, no matter how far away we are. For Rasoulof, the world he’s created is far from theoretical. The consequences have been, too.”
Jordan Mintzer (The Hollywood Reporter): “That ‘The Secret of the Sacred Fig’ starts off like the kind of subtle, intricately made chamber piece that Iranian cinema has been known for … only to veer toward the horrific (and, at the very end, toward something closer to a western), is thus only natural. Given that he’s one of the leading chroniclers of his country’s dire state, and one whose own life and security hang in the balance with each new movie, it’s hard right now to imagine Rasoulof making anything else.”
Kyle Smith (Wall Street Journal): “Through a single family, Mr. Rasoulof has created a vivid portrait of the dilemmas of today’s Iran, where the power of iman, or faith, suggests one kind of observation but the power of the iPhone suggests another.”
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