#TIFF24 Review: The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Centrepiece)

By John Corrado

The 2024 Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 5th to 15th, more information on tickets and showtimes can be found right here.

In his latest film The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof crafts a layered and unsettling portrait of life in modern day Iran. It’s a film deemed so dangerous to the state that the director was forced to flee his home country and is now living in exile in Europe, after being sentenced to prison due to his work.

The film follows Iman (Misagh Zare), a proud man working for the Iranian government, who has received a promotion to become a state investigator. The job requires him to keep a gun at home, as he is tasked with signing death warrants for political prisoners. At home, Iman has a wife (Soheila Golestani) and two teenaged daughters (Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami). The girls feel increasingly trapped in their apartment, under increasing scrutiny to abide by the strict morality codes, due to their father’s new position.

Meanwhile, the girls witness protests breaking out in the streets as women take off their hijabs and fearlessly rise up against the country’s oppressive dress code laws. The most interesting aspect of Rasoulof’s film is how he works in the backdrop of the actual protests from the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement that was sparked by the death of activist Mahsa Amini in 2022, including using footage that connects his fictional story to the plight of millions of women who are forced to live this way under Iran’s theocratic regime.

The film is meant as allegory of modern Iranian society, with Iman’s patriarchal treatment of his family mirroring life for many under the IRGC. For the first stretch of Rasoulof’s film, it unfolds as a slow-burn character drama, examining the impact that Iman’s work and the society they are being raised in has on his wife and daughters. But it steadily morphs into more of a thriller in the tense last act, a tonal shift that brings everything to a boiling point. Rasoulof’s direction and the skillful performances of his cast hold it all together. It’s a challenging work, both due to its immense length and subject matter, but an important one.

Film Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)