The Seed of the Sacred Fig

Reviews

• "It clocks in at three hours but not a scene feels superfluous as its central quartet – dad, mum, two teenage daughters – squabble, fall out and finally implode in a subversive final act."
  - Time Out
• "Rasoulof crafts an extraordinarily gripping allegory about the corrupting costs of power and the suppression of women under a religious patriarchy that crushes the very people it claims to protect."
  - IndieWire
• "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."
  - The Playlist
• "It's a remarkable, revolutionary work of art. As precisely focused and tightly constructed as it is expansive in its aspirations, it’s a rallying cry for the irreplaceable value of artistic expression in a world that will repress it at all costs."
  - Collider
• "It's worth watching just to be a witness to the transgressive and courageous possibilities of the medium."
  - Austin Chronicle
• "Often blunt and unwieldy, Mohamed Rasolouf's film is impactful."
  - Slant Magazine
• "But those sequences are a minor distraction, and the rest of the film’s methodical pace, its deliberate unfolding of the family’s growing rifts, feels almost classical, as if we’re watching an old legend fitted to a new age."
  - New York Times
• "Rasoulof gets terrific performances from all of his cast, but particularly noteworthy is Sohelia Golestani's work as Najmeh, which captures the woman's subtle, gradual transition from defender of her husband to an ally of her daughters."
  - RogerEbert.com