Reality seeps into “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” in multiple ways, including ones that writer-director Mohammad Rasoulof couldn’t have imagined back when he shot this absorbing drama in secret. One of Iran’s signature filmmakers — and among those most often in the theocratic government’s crosshairs — the 52-year-old auteur, now living in exile in Europe, tells the story of a family whose social standing becomes threatened by simmering societal tensions right outside their door. In order to preserve the rigid status quo, the clan’s patriarch will do everything he can to keep the winds of change from invading his household and affecting his wife and daughters. By making the political personal, Rasoulof warns us that repression starts at home.

Misagh Zare stars as Iman, who has just been promoted to investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court, a reward for 20 years as a dedicated attorney. His supportive wife, Najmeh (Soheila Golestani), is proud of him but also excited for what this new job means for them and their children, willful 21-year-old Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and insecure teen Sana (Setareh Maleki). They’ll receive a spacious home in a better section of Tehran, and maybe they can finally buy that dishwasher Najmeh has been craving. But Iman warns his family that, since judges are demonized in Iranian society, they need to be careful not to spread this news around. Underlining the occupational hazards awaiting Iman, he has been issued a gun for his protection.

As soon as Iman shows his alarmed wife that gun (it’s loaded, but he assures her the safety is on), audiences can start worrying about precisely when the weapon will go off. Provocatively, Rasoulof makes no attempt to hide his story’s metaphors or plot twists. If anything, he boldly foreshadows the darkness just on the horizon, shooting his drama austerely, the weight of inevitable doom hanging over everything.

Over the last 15 years, Rasoulof (“Manuscripts Don’t Burn,” “There Is No Evil”) has been imprisoned multiple times and had his passport confiscated, accused of spreading anti-government propaganda through his politically pointed films. “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” was inspired by one such jail stint in 2022, which occurred during the same time as that summer’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, sparked by the death of 22-year-old student Mahsa Amini while in the custody of the police, who arrested her for not wearing a hijab in public. (Authorities claimed Amini died of a heart attack, but her family insisted they fatally beat her.)

Those real-life events strike a match that lights the film’s slow fuse. Initially, Rezvan and Sana express frustration that their father’s new job requires them to conduct themselves “properly” outside the house. (Who knows who might be monitoring their social media presence?) But soon, it’s impossible for them or their mother to miss the violent protests in the wake of Amini’s death. Najmeh steadfastly echoes what she sees on state-run news services — Amini’s death was an accident — whereas her daughters, getting information on their smartphones, strongly suspect otherwise. And then Rezvan’s college friend Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi) is accidentally trapped in a campus protest, her face obliterated by buckshot fired by police. Long maintaining that the protesters are just thugs, Najmeh painfully removes the rounds from Sadaf’s bleeding wounds, her assumptions about the government she’s loyally obeyed falling away.

A film about complicity and denial, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” examines how a seemingly reasonable husband and wife can tacitly support this national charade. Iman quickly learns that the “investigating” part of his job title is more of a suggestion: He is expected to sign death warrants for individuals the prosecutor has demanded be executed. At first, his conscience bothers him, but Zare’s performance is a wonder of quiet rationalization as Iman gradually decides that going along is better than making waves. A man of no strong principles beyond protecting his status, Iman is by turns pathetic and terrifying, the latter occurring when Iman discovers that his gun has gone missing, an oversight that could lose him his promotion. His fervor to determine who took the weapon reveals a shockingly monstrous side, turning his wife and children into frightened suspects and leading to a jarring tonal-shift ending that proves to be a cathartic, believable final destination for a film simmering with mistrust and anger.

Anticipating his movie’s inflammatory subject matter, Rasoulof had to cast and film “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” without tipping off the authorities. That knowledge adds additional layers of defiance and bravery to this grim tale, which incorporates actual protest footage and video of police brutality to amplify the narrative’s verisimilitude. But ugly reality imposed itself unpredictably as well. Shortly before the film’s Cannes premiere, Rasoulof was once again sentenced — this time, for eight years in prison. Instead, he fled Iran, arriving at the festival screening to a hero’s welcome. The sorrow and hope interwoven through “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” are vibrant but also bittersweet, considering that Rasoulof had to escape his homeland for telling the truth about the oppressive regime seeking to silence him.

“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” may open on Iman, but eventually, the focus shifts to Najmeh and her daughters, who are positioned as the possibility for liberating Iran from its regressive, patriarchal government. Rezvan and Sana are young and smart enough to recognize the regime’s cruelty, which makes Najmeh’s evolving mindset the film’s emotional center. Golestani shines as a woman clinging to her illusions — about a wife’s place, about women’s second-class status — because she’s never permitted herself to think any other way. The actor, like everyone else in “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” who took part at grave risk, makes that awakening moving. Najmeh thinks she’s saving her daughters — they may end up freeing her instead.

I saw the stage play several years ago in Chicago and was lukewarm about the show. So, I was not excited about going to the screening. Wow, was I pleasantly surprised. The movie is very different from the stage play. If you are not a fan of the stage play, you owe it to yourself to try the movie.

“Wicked” is the story of Glinda, the good witch of the North, telling the troubled story of Elphaba’s life to the people of Munchkin land. Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, is rejected most of her life because of her green skin. At Shiz University, she forms an unlikely friendship with a beautiful young woman named Galinda, another student who is filled with an undaunted desire to be popular. Following an encounter with the Wizard of Oz, their relationship soon reaches a crossroad as their lives begin to take different paths.

Academy Award nominee Cynthia Erivo stars as Elphaba. Ariana Grande costars as Glinda/Galinda. Academy Award nominee Jeff Goldblum is the Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh is Madame Morrible. Jonathan Bailey is Fiyero, the love interest. Ethan Slater is Boq. Marissa Bode is Elphaba’s sister Nessa. Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth, the original Elphaba and Glinda in the 2003 stage play hit have cameo roles in “Wicked” the movie as Wiz-O-Mania super stars.

The performances of Erivo, Grande and Bailey are outstanding. Both have gorgeous voices that is a joy to listen to even though I thought the music was beautiful but there wasn’t an outstanding song.

Jon M. Chu directed.  He also directed one of my favorite movies, “Crazy Rich Asians.” Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox wrote the screenplay based on the book “Wicked” by Gregory Maguire that was based on the L. Frank Baum classic book, “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.” The movie was so much more detailed than the stage play and the story made more sense.

The Choreography by Christopher Scott was reminiscent of the Busby Berkeley movies of the 1930s.

Cinematographer Alice Brooks does a phenomenal job of emphasizing the beauty of the choreography, the sets and the costumes.

Paul Tazewell’s costumes are colorful, beautiful and add so much to the beauty of the movie.

I expect that “Wicked, Part One” will be nominated for all sorts of Academy Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and Golden Globes. It is a beautiful entertaining film for the whole family.

“Wicked Part One” rated PG is now showing in Edwardsville, Alton, Granite City, Jerseyville and Carlinville. I give it 5 stars. The sequel, “Wicked Part Two,” is scheduled for release on November 21, 2025. 

Parents of young children should let loose a hearty “chee hoo” upon the Thanksgiving-timed release of “Moana 2.” That’s the long weekend’s entertainment sorted, with a sequel that comes close to the soaring storytelling and exhilarating anthems of the first film, which delighted young audiences eight years ago, resulting in countless Halloween costumes and babies belting about how far they’ll go.

That first film, which celebrates the strength and power of young girls — as well as Polynesian culture with reverence and specificity — was a balm in the uncertain November of 2016. It was a massive box office hit and was nominated for two Academy Awards — for animated film and for original song for a tune by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“Moana” felt revolutionary within the Disney canon because our spunky protagonist is decidedly not a princess (she’ll be the first to tell you that). She felt radical, especially for older generations that grew up on passive heroes whose lives were dictated by weddings or resistance to them. That Moana was a girl of action, an explorer — strong, capable, brave, family-oriented and empathetic — made her a remarkable role model, and the character has lost none of her moxie in the sequel.

Although the impressive voice cast of Pacific Islanders, including original Moana voicer Auliʻi Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, has returned (with a few additions), a new creative team has been assembled for the sequel, which was originally developed as a series and then reworked into a feature-length film. The good news is that the seams don’t show on the finished movie, which is as visually dazzling and culturally rich as the first and an apt continuation of Moana’s story. She is now a revered “wayfinder” in her community on a tiny Pacific island.

Moana has a desire to explore even farther into the ocean, to go beyond where she’s ever gone before — specifically to connect with other people. During a ritual ceremony, she receives a vision of an island, Motufetu, that once connected all the people of the ocean but that has since been cursed by a god named Nalo. Moana puts together a crew that includes her friend and historian Moni (Hualalai Chung), boatmaker Loto (Rose Matafeo) and farmer Kele (David Fane), in order to find Motofetu.

Along the way, they’ll have to scoop up the demigod Maui (Johnson), who has been waylaid inside a giant clam by Nalo, with only the company of a mysterious and nefarious bat-woman, Matangi (Awhimai Fraser). The entire team will have to collaborate — even with the feisty bunch of coconut warriors known as the Kakamora — in order to break Nalo’s curse, achieve their goal and assemble the community of Moana’s dream.

David G. Derrick Jr., Jason Hand and Dana Ledoux Miller are the trio of directors on the film, with Miller and Jared Bush writing the screenplay. But the biggest creative difference that audiences will notice is the songs. With Miranda moving on, the songwriters known as Barlow & Bear (Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear) have written all the numbers for the sequel, collaborating with returning composers Mark Mancina and Opetaia Foa’i. Barlow & Bear went viral in 2021 with their “Unofficial Bridgerton Musical” album, which eventually won a musical theater Grammy.

The songs in “Moana 2” are good, to be sure. They’re just not as addictive as Miranda’s ear worms — the man has an uncanny skill for sprinkling seriously habit-forming syncopations into his songwriting — and while the big ballad “Beyond” and the jazzy rock number “Get Lost” are certainly stirring, they don’t quite stick in the brain like “You’re Welcome” or tug on the heartstrings like “How Far I’ll Go.”

But “Moana 2” is a worthy sequel, with gorgeous animation, a thoughtful representation of Polynesian culture and another exciting adventure for our inspiring Moana. Does it go beyond the first film? No, but that would have been a tall order. That it stands up as a sturdy and satisfying follow-up is more than enough.

Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.