While the son goes out to the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock and Christian sites, the father stays at the Baháʼí gardens to learn about a faith that came out of his own country—Iran.

Producers: Cast:[5] The Gardener has received mostly positive reviews by all critics and holds an 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes[6] and 64 score on Metacritic.

"[8] The Hollywood Reporter: "The Gardener marks the first time in decades—perhaps since the Iranian Revolution in 1979—that an Iranian filmmaker has shot a movie in Israel, and what it has to say about religion and world peace is as radical a statement as unconventional filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf (The Bicyclist, Kandahar) has ever made...The deep spirituality it discusses so intelligently will appeal to open-minded viewers and should reach beyond festivals via culture channels..." - Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter[9] Variety: "With their civilized discussion and amusing asides about the making and marketing of docus, the Makhmalbafs succeed in entertaining and engaging auds who are interested in the question of why people seek religion, and are willing to listen to all sides of a story."

"[11] Times of India: "Exiled from his homeland, Iranian New Wave director Mohsen Makhmalbaf's film The Gardener explores how different generations view religion and peace.

- Gerald Peary[15] The Hindu: "The grammar and discourse of this unusual film — driven by a search for peace and understanding — is simultaneously rational, intelligent, poetic, and above all intensely civilised."

[18] The filmmaker also talks about a religion that is a taboo subject in Iran and has its own consequences, such as that received by Shirin Ebadi for taking up the case of this group.

An open letter published on Jadaliyya urging him not to attend was signed by many prominent Iranians, including Arash Bineshpajouh, Tina Gharavi, Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Laleh Khalili, Hamid Dabashi, Fatemeh Keshavarz, Ervand Abrahamian, and Asef Bayat.

[24][25] Due to the treatment Makhmalbaf has received because of traveling to Israel to make the film, Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi and many other filmmakers are wary of giving their awards to the Iranian Cinema Museum in fear of meeting the same fate.