The Seed of the Sacred Fig review: this Oscar-nominated thriller is a blistering attack on the Iranian regime

Presumably, once Ken Loach or Armando Iannucci have wrapped on one of their excoriating or hilarious takedowns of the British state, they return to their own beds for a well-earned night’s sleep. In Iran, however, things aren’t quite so simple.

Mohammad Rasoulof is no stranger to the hot water Iranian film-makers can find themselves in, having already served time in prison following previous outings such as A Man of Integrity and There is No Evil.

Then came The Seed of the Sacred Fig, a (now Oscar-nominated) family-set political thriller and blistering attack on the regime. After refusing to remove the film from Cannes last year, Rasoulof was handed an eight-year sentence and promptly (wisely) fled to Germany – his 28-day, passport-less journey and preceding career should surely become a movie in its own right.

That’s serious commitment – and the world is a far better place with Rasoulof and this film (which was shot secretly, something of a rite of passage for Iranian directors).

Iman (Missagh Zareh) has just been promoted to court prosecutor, a position he and his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) have been hoping on for 21 years. It means a big government home and the chance of the ultimate promotion to judge in the Islamic Revolutionary Court. Iman is also, troublingly for his conscience, a de facto henchman for the authorities.

Iman’s is a highly sensitive role that comes with risks – of reprisal by those against the judiciary and also punishment by his own bosses if he or his relatives step out of line. Najmeh immediately lays down the new law to their late-teenage daughters, Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and the younger Sana (Setareh Maleki): be impeccable citizens in the eyes of the regime and ultra-careful about what you post on social media.

However, Rezvan and Sana are understandably obsessed with the protests following the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in 2022 for not wearing a hijab properly, and constantly receiving videos from friends that contradict the story being told on state TV – and by their father. Visceral, brutal, real-life phone footage of the police and army crackdown is used to sobering effect.

Rasoulof fires off an early bullet that shakes the family, and I defy anyone not to wince at the amateur medical care given to the victim. But the real trigger that sends this family into crisis is when Iman’s gun goes missing, setting off a dizzyingly escalating series of paranoid incidents.

Rezvan and Sana come under immediate suspicion of taking the weapon, with Najmeh as the motherly bridge caught between father and daughters. But before long, events are taking extraordinary turns, driven by Iman’s split loyalties to his family and country.

The performances are uniformly perfect, as “real”, moving and nuanced as you could expect, particularly from Golestani who is brilliantly measured and restrained. Unlike most of the film crew, Golestani didn’t escape from Iran and is awaiting the verdict of a court trial last month on charges including “spreading corruption and prostitution on Earth”. Ironically, apparently the judge’s name was Iman.

There are hints of Hitchcock and Kubrick as this story inexorably unravels beyond the control of its players. Even if some might see the finale as a breakdown too far, this is unnervingly tense, properly intelligent, essential viewing.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig is in cinemas from February 7