Overview
A woman's unspoken truths become a lifeline in a war-torn world.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- harrowing
- claustrophobic
- confessional
- serious viewing
- arthouse film night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film's powerful female-centered drama, Golshifteh Farahani's performance, and poetic treatment of war and patriarchy, while finding its allegorical approach uneven.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The paralyzed husband functions as the woman's imagined syngué sabour, absorbing revelations she could never voice within the marriage.
The decrepit room where the woman nurses her husband is repeatedly threatened by militia violence outside.
Her increasingly candid disclosures and relationship with the young soldier expose desires suppressed by ten years of marriage and war.
The Persian mythology of the patience stone gives symbolic form to the woman's belief that confession can discharge pain.
Films like The Patience Stone, and why
Wadjda
shared intimate drama, war-torn setting, feminist perspective, and psychologically intense focus on a woman's survival
Persepolis
shared Middle Eastern setting, female-centered social critique, constrained domestic life, and restrained but emotionally forceful drama
A Separation
shared wartime domestic suspense, female resilience, oppressive social structures, and claustrophobic atmosphere
The Silence of the Sea
shared poetic realism, trauma, sexual repression, and a woman's search for agency under patriarchal violence
Movie Details
- Director
- Atiq Rahimi
- Release Date
- 2013-02-20
- Runtime
- 102 min
- Rating
- 7.0 / 10 (116)
Cast
- Golshifteh Farahani
- Hamid Djavadan
- Hassina Burgan
- Massi Mrowat
- Mohamed Al Maghraoui
- Malak Djaham Khazal
- Faiz Fazil
- Hatim Seddiki
- Mouhcine Malzi
- Amine Ennaji
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Patience Stone about?
- A silenced Afghan woman transforms her comatose husband into a vessel for forbidden truths, desire, and a desperate bid for freedom amid war.
- What is The Patience Stone like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Patience Stone as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Patience Stone violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Patience Stone as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Patience Stone?
- Critics broadly praised the film's powerful female-centered drama, Golshifteh Farahani's performance, and poetic treatment of war and patriarchy, while finding its allegorical approach uneven.
- Which films are like The Patience Stone?
- Films with a similar feel include Wadjda, Persepolis, A Separation, and The Silence of the Sea.
- How long is The Patience Stone?
- The Patience Stone runs 102 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Patience Stone?
- In United States, The Patience Stone is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
