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critics consensus

The Apple flirts with exploitation, but this boldly metaphorical work boasts a tart, complex crunch. Read critic reviews

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The Apple Photos

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Movie Info

This docudrama tells the story of two adolescent girls (Zahra Naderi, Masume Naderi) in Iran who have been kept imprisoned by their father (Qorban Ali Naderi) in their home from the day they were born. Interacting with a social worker who was notified of the situation, the girls' father voices his conviction that allowing the girls out of the house would lead to their corruption by males and the vices of the outside world. The neglected girls, meanwhile, can barely walk or speak.

Cast & Crew

Zahra Naderi
Zahra
Masume Naderi
Massoumeh
Qorban Ali Naderi
Father
Aziz Mohammadi
Azizeh
Zahra Saqari Saz
Amir Hossein Khosrojerdi
Samira Makhmalbaf
Director
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Writer
Samira Makhmalbaf
Writer
Iraj Sarbaz
Executive Producer
Mohamad Ahmadi
Cinematographer
Ebrahim Ghafori
Cinematographer
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Film Editor
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Critic Reviews for The Apple

All Critics (48) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (7)

  • There is nothing more haunting than the faces of those two girls, two angels who were kept in hell for more than a decade and have emerged, blinking into the light.

    March 31, 2021 | Full Review…

    Desson Thomson

    Washington Post

  • The feature debut of 17-year-old Iranian filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf, The Apple is one part docudrama, one part parable, and the altogether involving story of 12-year-old twin girls.

    March 31, 2021 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    Carrie Rickey

    Philadelphia Inquirer

  • [The Apple] hits upon simple, yet all-important human emotions that movies rarely capture.

    March 31, 2021 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

    John Monaghan

    Detroit Free Press

  • A comic, lyrical, and "politically incorrect" poetic docudrama so acutely focused in its characters and ethics that it can afford to be relaxed about them, all the more remarkable coming from a director still in her teens.

    March 31, 2021 | Full Review…

    Jonathan Rosenbaum

    Chicago Reader

  • The Apple is a film both exquisite and trenchant, even more politically resonant than poetically resonant, as are so many Iranian films that are ostensibly about children.

    March 31, 2021 | Full Review…

    Jay Carr

    Boston Globe

  • The lucid images, the bizarre drama and comedy, the reflections on Iranian society, provide more than enough to keep us thoughtful, charmed, and entertained. Go on, take a bite.

    March 31, 2021 | Full Review…

    Geoff Brown

    Times (UK)
View All Critic Reviews (48)

Audience Reviews for The Apple

  • Jun 05, 2012
    Samira Makhmalbaf was only 17 when she made this impressive exposé of this revolting real story and of the blatant gender inequality in Iran - and it is really shocking to see that those girls were sent home by a social worker after being discovered in such deplorable conditions.
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
  • Jan 05, 2012
    The Apple it's one of the exemples that show to us how terrific is the Iran cinema.
    Lucas M Super Reviewer
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