The Seed of the Sacred Fig

An investigating judge in Tehran is on the verge of promotion into the Islamic Revolutionary Court — the body that signs death warrants — when his service pistol goes missing at home. Paranoia sets in. He begins to suspect his own wife and daughters, who have been watching footage of the Mahsa Amini protests on their phones. Rasoulof was sentenced to eight years in prison, flogging, and confiscation of his property. He fled Iran on foot through the mountains days before the film's Cannes premiere. The state's cruelty only proved the film's argument. One of the most important films of the decade — and the one that cost its director the most to make.