OBSERVER: The Seed of the Sacred Fig
In 2022, Iranian student Mahsa Amini was arrested and beaten to death for improperly wearing her hijab.
Set against the spontaneous protests that erupted following her death, Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed of the Sacred Fig begins as a tense family drama in which an emerging generation gap threatens the family dynamic.
Where prosecutor Iman (Misagh Zare) sees enemies of the state, his teenage daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki) see “normal people who want a normal life and freedom.”
The family conflict acts as a metaphor mirroring the intensifying real-life drama in the real world.
At first, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) sides with her husband, maintaining Iman’s patriarchal authority at home and scolding her daughters.
The clash of generations is evident in the treatment of Rezvan’s university friend, Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi).
Caught up in the turmoil and brutally wounded, Najmeh tenderly treats Sadaf’s wounds but will not let her stay with the family.
Sadaf is arrested, setting in motion events culminating in a frightening interrogation of the women.
In his new job as an investigator, Iman is expected to rubber-stamp death penalty orders for student activists hauled before the Revolutionary Court.
Iman is given a gun by his colleague Ghaderi (Reza Akhlagh).
His new position means he now has a target on his back.
The conscience-stricken Iman becomes more dictatorial and paranoid as his authoritarian hold on the family is increasingly threatened not only by Sana and Rezvan but eventually by Najmeh, mirroring the revolution as women fight against the regime’s misogyny.
If you know your Chekhov, the gun foreshadowed in the first act is bound to go off with a bang in the third.
The stakes, already high, elevate astronomically in the third act as Iman’s paranoia takes hold.
In cinemas February 27.
Review by Kathryn Keeble