Director – Asghar Farhadi

Language – Iranian

Streaming on Amazon Prime Video

A couple in a courtroom filing for a divorce. There is neither a ‘Thappad’ nor any cheating. The filing is because each of the party involved, is in a conflict regarding the responsibility towards an ailing father suffering from Alzheimer and the future of their daughter.

The husband who is adamant to stay in Iran to take care of the father, and the wife who is absolutely sure to move to another country for the better future of their 11-year-old daughter. What happens thereafter is a brilliant tale of suspense, relationships, emotions, religious and human consciousness, social class and gender disparities.

Every character in the story is justifiable. They are real humans who are absolutely right in their respective positions. There is no way of judging any of them. However, as a confession I did become a bit judgmental about the character Razieh at a certain point in the movie; soon I was put in place. As the story progressed I wished for some way to protect each of these helpless people from the situations life has thrown upon them. The most touching was the scene when Nader is sponging his father who is on a wheelchair and he just breaks down into sobs, completely helpless and stressed because of the situation and the recent events. On one side is the pain of the adults and on the other side are the children who are closely watching and absorbing every aspect, unable to express. The sadness in their eyes is extremely distressing. The film ends leaving to the viewers’ imagination of what would have possibly happened. I think it must have been a positive outcome.

The film is fabulously thought provoking.

Make time to watch this one while time sharing with subtitles.