With Iran and the world once again on the brink, COUP 53 feels less like history and more like a warning.
In 1953, a military coup led by British MI6 backed by the CIA overthrew Iran’s democratically elected Prime Minister, Mohammad Mossadegh. His crime: nationalising the country’s oil. The truth behind that original regime change for oil was buried for decades.
Iranian director Taghi Amirani spent ten years uncovering what really happened. Working with legendary editor Walter Murch (Apocalypse Now, The Conversation, The English Patient) and a gripping performance by Ralph Fiennes, the film unfolds like a John le Carré spy thriller — except every word is true.
COUP 53 exposes the roots of today’s tensions with rare clarity and urgency.
A documentary. A detective story. A reckoning.
“This powerful and authoritative documentary by the Iranian filmmaker Taghi Amirani is as gripping as any thriller” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“The film’s editor is Walter Murch, who worked on The Conversation and The Godfather: Part II (both 1974) so there’s not much that he doesn’t know about conspiracy – how it leaks into a movie like the smell of drains.” – Anthony Lane, The New Yorker
“Both a detective story and a deep dive into a world event whose consequences linger, it is bracing, absorbing filmmaking” – Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times
“Has the air of something that grew from an impudent home movie into a magnum opus” – Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
“A maddening, gripping portrait of how imperialism works. Coup 53 is almost as concerned with the filmmaking process – the lists, the dead ends, the searching – as much as it is with political history” – Tara Brady, The Irish Times
“Ralph Fiennes appears, lending a wry le Carré air to proceedings as an enigmatic MI6 agent with an explosive testimony.” – Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, The Times
“A labour of love, the film is premium detective work. With admirable tenacity and care, Amirani has dragged official secrets back into the light” – Tim Robey, The Daily Telegraph
“It has a bit of All the President’s Men about it” – Ian Freer, Empire
“Simply great storytelling, full stop.” – Ann Hornaday, Washington Post
“It is without question one of the greatest of all documentaries. Apart from its importance as a revelatory history lesson, it’s a masterpiece of humanity, thoroughness and consummate film craft.” – Mike Leigh
“This is big. This is going to be big.” – Werner Herzog
“One of the best documentaries of recent years.” – Michael Moore
“Extraordinary.” – Errol Morris
“Amazing. Beautifully done. Clever use of archive. Unique.” – Oliver Stone
