The past year was filled with bold, boundary-testing movies, from the jaw-dropping body horror flick "The Substance" to the controversy-stoking musical "Emilia Pérez". But only one of the bunch was filmed entirely in secret to avoid persecution from its home government — that would be the 2024 political drama "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" from Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof. As of last week, you can now experience the tense thriller at home on VOD and digital platforms including Amazon and Apple.
Written, directed and co-produced by Rasoulof, "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" centers on Iman (Missagh Zareh), a lawyer whose family is thrust into the public eye when he is appointed as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. As political unrest erupts in the streets over the death of a young woman at a demonstration against compulsory hijab, "Iman realizes that his job is even more dangerous than expected, making him increasingly paranoid and distrustful, even of his own wife Najmeh and daughters Sana and Rezvan," reads the film's official synopsis. (Soheila Golestani appears as Najmeh, with actresses Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami portraying Iman's two daughters.)
