Critic Reviews

Director Mohammad Rasoulof has fashioned the ultimate metaphor for a society adrift from its culture.

All in all, a harrowing, one-of-a-kind movie.

Mohammad Rasoulof's heartfelt and darkly comic second feature proves beyond any doubt that Iranian film is still alive and well, despite waning Western interest in one of the world's richest contemporary cinemas.

A powerful symbolic drama.

Richly detailed -- and improbably entertaining.

A thrilling example of the cunning political allegory woven into vivid concretism that invigorates contemporary Iranian cinema, Mohammad Rasoulof's Iron Island takes as its monumental central image a sinking ship, symbol of decaying autocracy and the faint hope of liberation.

This is not a typical Iranian production. Simultaneously deeply allegorical and concretely physical, this striking film is not a typical production, period.

Iron Island is at its most compelling early, as Rasoulof explores his human-scaled ant farm, detailing how people make lives for themselves in cramped quarters, using cardboard partitions and jerry-rigged appliances.

Sparse of plot, Iron Island is visually rich, thanks to cinematographer Reza Jalai. The final scene is especially stunning.

A potent social allegory told with humor and mystery.