Rosewater

Play trailer

Rosewater

R

2014

1h 43m

Drama

Play Trailer

Watchlist

Watchlist

Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

153 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

In June 2009, BBC journalist Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, returned to his native country to interview Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the prime challenger to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When Moussavi's supporters protested Ahmadinejad's declaration of victory, Bahari smuggled footage of the riots to the BBC. He was soon arrested by the Revolutionary Guard and -- led by a man known only as "Rosewater" -- was interrogated and tortured for 118 days.

Watch on Fandango

Stream Now

Critics Consensus

Timely, solidly acted, and unabashedly earnest, Rosewater serves as an impressive calling card for first-time director Jon Stewart.

Read Critics Reviews

Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

09/01/2017

D+

The rest of the film is...kinda all over the place.

Go to Full Review

Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

06/07/2016

We rarely get the sense that Stewart is talking down to us - which is why it's such a disappointment that 'Rosewater', is so often pitched and played like a carefully dumbed-down TV movie.

Go to Full Review

Mark Kermode

Observer (UK)

05/10/2015

3/5

The story is engrossing and enraging, and Stewart takes care to remind us that the real victims of oppressive regimes are those who live with them on a daily basis.

Go to Full Review

Hosea Rupprecht

Pauline Media Studies

08/12/2021

In addition to being a commentary on hope, Rosewater joins other films on journalism that illustrate the sacrifices made by professional journalists in search of the truth.

Go to Full Review

Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

02/26/2021

Stewart has consistently demonstrated there is nothing genuinely non-conformist or oppositional about him.

Go to Full Review

Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

02/02/2021

3/5

The movie is very straightforward but does bring sincerity and emotion to the film but the over-all "never give up" message seems trite given the backdrop of the story.

Go to Full Review

Read all reviews

michelle l

@kacz67 08/23/2020

Very accurate depiction of Iran's imprisonment of British reporter. Well paced, good dialogue, well acted.

See more

04/27/2020

Rosewater is a good first directorial debut from Jon Stewart. The film is well acted with a good script but if you know what happens at the end of the script offers little surprises. I also feel the movie focused a little bit too much on the interrogation scenes which almost seem to last forever. Still it’s a good first effort and a meaningful film.

See more

ari v

@RT59419633 03/13/2020

Took me a while to see the film that perhaps I felt took my favourite political pundit at the time, away from me. But it really is excellent. And all too prophetic of American elections to come. Whether intentionally or unintentionally.

See more

s r

@ScottR 09/23/2018

A story to tell, but not told especially well in the second half.

See more

nilufer e

@Nilicim 12/16/2017

It was a realistic movie about a true story that we are very familiar with here in Turkey. I was also glad to see our Haluk Bilginer in the movie too. It was good but too uneventful for me.

See more

07/11/2017

Well acted, but lacked the emotional punch of the source material. Also Gael García Bernal doesn't seem like the right actor to play a Persian.

See more

Read all reviews

Read More

Read Less

WRITE A REVIEW

EDIT REVIEW

POST RATING

Jon Stewart

Director

Gael García Bernal

Maziar Bahari

Kim Bodnia

Javadi

Haluk Bilginer

Baba Akbar

Shohreh Aghdashloo

Moloojoon

Golshifteh Farahani

Maryam

Spotlight

97%

93%

Spotlight

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Spotlight

Paterson

96%

72%

Paterson

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Paterson

Drop Squad

17%

44%

Drop Squad

Watchlist

Fruitvale Station

94%

87%

Fruitvale Station

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Fruitvale Station

Burnt

29%

45%

Burnt

Watchlist

TRAILER

for Burnt

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Synopsis

In June 2009, BBC journalist Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-born Canadian citizen, returned to his native country to interview Mir-Hossein Moussavi, the prime challenger to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. When Moussavi's supporters protested Ahmadinejad's declaration of victory, Bahari smuggled footage of the riots to the BBC. He was soon arrested by the Revolutionary Guard and -- led by a man known only as "Rosewater" -- was interrogated and tortured for 118 days.

Director: Jon Stewart
Producer: Scott Rudin, Jon Stewart, Gigi Pritzker
Screenwriter: Jon Stewart
Distributor: Open Road
Production Co: Odd Lot Entertainment
Rating: R (Some Crude References|Language|Violent Content)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 7, 2014, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 21, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $3.1M
Runtime: 1h 43m
Sound Mix: Dolby Digital