An Oscar hopeful that lives up to its lofty ambitions hits theaters this week.
And a terrific new detective series debuts on Max.
We review both as well as a solid boxing film set in New York.
Here’s our roundup.
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig”: It’s baffling that there’s not more awards hype attached to director Mohammad Rasoulof’s family drama/thriller, a stick of political dynamite that has forced the acclaimed director to live in exile in Germany. In his native Iran, there is an eight-year prison sentence waiting for him for making the film.
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Rasoulof’s epic (2 hours, 47 minutes) is Germany’s entry for best international film at the upcoming Oscars. The drama dismantles Iran’s patriarchal system and illustrates how its sexist views stifle women, some of whom are rebelling and paying for it with violence. It’s one of the most powerful films this year, with a timeline that mirrors the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising in Iran that took flight after the death of Jina Amini in a Tehran hospital following her arrest for not wearing a wearing a hijab. Yet Rasoulof miraculously finds morsels of hope for the future.
Rasoulof — already familiar with having been arrested for his “propaganda” films — shot “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in secret in Iran. But you’d never know it from how accomplished this film looks and feels.
A family crisis ensues when Iman (Misagh Zare) lands a promotion as an investigative judge. The job seems too good to be true and will help Iman better provide for his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostam) and Sana (Setareh Maleki). But it comes at moral cost — Iman’s true job is to rubber stamp government judgments without ever viewing them. Some are death sentences.
That action heightens safety concerns for his family and leads him to get a firearm that later goes missing. Meanwhile, his daughters’ outrage over how women and protesters in Iran are being treated escalates, which further fuel Iman’s anger. His job demands everyone in the family keep a low profile and stay off social media — something his daughters are not inclined to do.
The situation grows ever more intense and leads to a resolution laden with metaphor.
Rasoulof effectively weaves video of real protests into his story, giving it a vibrant, electric resonance. While it might sound like “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” forsakes storytelling for activism, there is compelling story here. Yes, Rasoulof is angry over what he sees playing out in his homeland, but he equally values creating full-blooded characters and complex situations that don’t go where you think they would. The result is a surprising and revelatory film that shakes its first at an authoritarian government and, in doing so, turns into one of the best films of 2024. Details: 4 stars out of 4; opens in limited release Dec. 13 and expands Dec. 20.
“Get Millie Black”: Celebrated author Marlon James created, executive produced and wrote the compelling story for this terrific five-part Max series. It ventures far beyond the traditional crime solving story and opens a window to a welcome, new perspective, although the staples of a mystery — red herrings, suspects and twists aplenty — are all there. James’ crime story sinks its roots deep into the gnarled past of a family in Kingstown, Jamaica. Former Scotland Yard detective Millie-Jean Black (Tamara Lawrance) returns to that capital city and moves back into the home that is festering with bad memories and still occupied by her sibling (a very good Chnya McQueen) and her abusive mother. As the family drama intensifies, so does Black’s search for a missing female teen, a case that mushrooms in importance. “Get Millie Black” devotes time to all of its characters’ stories, which heightens its portrayal of why Black is so determined to bring bad people to justice at all costs. Details: 3½ stars; available on Max.
“Day of the Fight”: Actor-turned-director Jack Huston tells a familiar boxer’s tale in “Fight”: A disgraced street-smart guy (Michael Pitt) prepares for his shot at redemption via a big boxing match. But “The Day of the Fight” punches above its weight because of the acting might of Pitt — who proves equally adroit at being brawny as well as physically and emotionally bruised — and the incredible black-and-white cinematography from Peter Simonite. Both elevate this cliched underdog story, giving the story more texture than the screenplay grants it. Huston, who wrote the screenplay, conceives of a straightforward approach, following boxer Mike Flanagan (Pitt) as he exercises, walks through his New York neighborhood and meets up with people who had a big impact in his life, his friend now priest (John Magaro), his Alzheimer’s-afflicted dad (Joe Pesci), his past love (Nicolette Robinson), his no-nonsense uncle (Steve Buscemi) and his coach (Ron Perlman). That star power and those exchanges, which fuse in flashbacks, build on our wanting to see the down-on-his-luck Mike triumph once he steps into that ring. Details: 2½ stars; in select theaters Dec. 13.
“The Black Sea”: Khalid (Derrick B. Harden) can charm just about anyone, but he’s having a heck of a time seeing his entrepreneurial, self-made dreams get fulfilled. He seizes on a golden opportunity to live well when he responds on Facebook to a woman who’s from a small coastal village in Bulgaria. She desperately wants to hook up with him so she can ward off a terrible fate a psychic foresees unless she becomes involved with a Black man. Khalid hops a flight from Brooklyn and arrives too late. With no money and a lost passport, he shambles about town and ingratiates himself to nearly everyone in the colorful community, including a travel agent (Irmena Chichikova) with stalled dreams of her own. Directors Crystal Moselle and Harden’s amiable romcom is almost as charming as its lead actor – Harden – who makes this good spirited, upbeat indie shine so ever bright. Details: 3 stars; in select theaters Dec. 13.
“Young Werther”: Debuting filmmaker José Lourenço’s fizzy contemporization of the scandalous 1774 German novel “The Sorrows of Young Werther” turns a tragic tome into a frothy one, and while that big mood swing works sometimes, the later tonal shifts get jarring and force characters to act disingenuously. On the plus side, the cast is an absolute delight with Douglas Booth’s spirited performance as the wealthy, clueless dandy Werther who claims he’s a writer but doesn’t ply that trade much. He becomes smitten, to the dismay of his germaphobe friend and traveling companion Paul (Jaouhar Ben Ayed) with sweet Charlotte (Alison Pill), a do-gooder who’s set to marry the stable and nice lawyer Albert (Patrick J. Adams). Charlotte and Werther just wanna have fun all day while Albert is toiling away, and all that tomfoolery comes to a head and a third act that comes out too forced. Beyond all that, “Young Werther” does have energy to spare, and at times too much of it, and benefits from its cast and sometimes sly Easter eggs inserted to the original work. Details: 2 stars; available to rent Dec. 13.
Contact Randy Myers at soitsrandy@gmail.com.
