Director: Saeed Soheili

Cast: Hadi Hejazifar, Sina Mehrdad, Nazanin Bayati

Pig Gene is a 2019 Iranian comedy-crime-drama film directed by Saeed Soheili, following two men whose prison escape quickly becomes a cascade of unexpected obstacles and darkly comic misadventures across 103 minutes of chaotic, fast-moving storytelling.

What is Pig Gene about?

Reza and Emad have broken out of prison with a clear objective driving them forward — but freedom turns out to be far more complicated than either man anticipated. The moment they step outside the walls, one setback follows another, each more absurd than the last. Old loyalties, street-level pressures, and sheer bad luck conspire against them at every turn. The story keeps its cards close, letting the audience wonder whether these two will ever reach the goal that pushed them to escape in the first place, and what it will cost them along the way.

Cast & crew

Director Saeed Soheili has built a career around socially grounded Iranian genre films. Leading the cast is Hadi Hejazifar, one of the more versatile faces of contemporary Iranian cinema, joined by Sina Mehrdad in a key supporting role. Nazanin Bayati rounds out the principal trio, bringing emotional counterweight to the film's otherwise frenetic male-driven energy.

Context & significance

Prison-break comedies occupy a distinct corner of Iranian popular cinema — films that use the premise of escape not just for physical suspense but to probe questions of freedom, fate, and the absurdity of circumstance. For diaspora viewers who grew up watching this brand of fast-talking, street-smart Iranian storytelling, Pig Gene lands in a recognizable tradition. It pairs crime-film tension with the kind of dry, observational humor that has always translated well to Persian-speaking audiences regardless of where they watch from. The 2019 release period saw a wave of such hybrid genre films finding strong domestic audiences.

Where & how to watch

Pig Gene is available on K-Time in its original Persian audio. No VPN is needed — the title streams without geo-blocking on the web, on your TV, and on your phone. Start watching today and cancel anytime.