Persepolis is a powerfully great animated feature that brings to life the autobiographical graphic novels of Marjane Satrapi to provide a captivating experience.

| Original Score: 9/10 | Feb 14, 2025

It’s another important elevation of animation from children’s entertainment to pronounced, artistic cinema.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Sep 6, 2023

One of the most amazing animated films in the 21st century.

| Mar 3, 2023

Brilliantly animated, highly acclaimed, and an innovative adaptation...

| Mar 29, 2021

A masterful balancing of socially conscious drama, childhood memoir, and outright comedy, highlighting the absurdity of a culture ruled by petty fundamentalism.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 6, 2019

Persepolis is worth every second of its superb 100 minutes.

| May 9, 2019

Satrapi portrays a love of Iran without being revisionist or disguising any harsh truths about the regime. This is an exceptional and exceptionally moving piece of animated filmmaking.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 4, 2018

Adapting her memoir into a starkly beautiful animated feature, comics artist Marjane Satrapi braids personal history and national tragedy.

| Sep 5, 2018

Kind of interesting and is kind of original but its telling moments are told so often it's like going out to dinner and being served the same course over and over.

| Aug 23, 2018

As a work of art and a fine example of a narrative unvarnished with pretension, this animated feature is a gem.

| Jan 23, 2018

Drawn in big swaths of black and white and embellished with thin curls of cigarette smoke and cascades of jasmine flowers, Persepolis is a gorgeous film.

| Aug 22, 2017

Persepolis is, in its way, a hymn to the enduring influence of family, particularly during a time in which the state is attempting to seize all hearts, minds and instincts for itself.

| Apr 12, 2013

You could ask for a more hardcore adaptation of her bitterly funny, sad and angry book, I think, but not for a more enjoyable one.

Full Review | Apr 12, 2013

It's a mind-blower.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 12, 2013

Equal parts contrarian and humanist, Persepolis -- regardless of how it was inked -- refuses to see anything in black and white.

| Apr 12, 2013

Moving, perceptive and extremely funny.

| Apr 12, 2013

Persepolis, despite its inventive and pleasing animation, drags on dully.

| Apr 12, 2013

The diffused momentum arguably suits the subject: that's teen turmoil for you, heightened here by the troubles of time and place.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 12, 2013

Marjane's outlook on events is always slightly skewed and caricatured, and the visuals keep Persepolis striking to the eye even during its less dramatically satisfying patches.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 16, 2012

There's very little that's whimsical about this coming-of-age chronicle, but if we're looking for political reflection we're reading the wrong comic book.

| Apr 28, 2011