A stone that listens, a stone that cannot answer, a stone that has to endure everything it is told. A stone which - despite its passivity - ultimately has a redeeming power. This "Patience Stone" is the subject of an Afghan legend. In the film of the same name, the aunt of the young protagonist (played by Golshifteh Farahani) says of the stone: "If ever you find this stone, tell it your worries and your secrets. The stone will listen to you. Tell it all the things you would never dare say. And so you talk and you talk. [...] At some point the stone will break apart. It will crack into a thousand pieces. And from that day you will be free, free from all your pain. "

And so the young woman tells everything to her comatose husband, her "Patience Stone" - using her monologue to free her (at least in words) from the suffering that their marriage means to her. She gradually regains her self-confidence, talking more openly about her aspirations, her wishes and her bodily desires. Yet she is also confronted with the violence of the Afghan reality when she encounters a young Taliban (played by Massi Mrowat).

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Atiq Rahimi. Rahimi received the Prix Goncourt in 2008 for the novel (published in the original French under the title Syngué Sabour. Pierre de patience). The film was banned in Afghanistan - not least because of its permissive portrayal of the story.