A Separation (2011)

A Separation (2011) is an intense, character-driven Iranian drama about a middle-class couple—Nader (Peyman Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami)—whose marriage dissolves over a wrenching choice: Simin wants to leave Iran to give their daughter Termeh a better future, while Nader refuses to abandon his elderly father, who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. When Simin moves out and seeks a divorce, Nader hires a caregiver, Razieh (Sareh Bayat), whose own precarious family situation and religious scruples collide with Nader’s. A single incident spirals into a complex conflict involving husbands, children, neighbors and the justice system, forcing everyone to make painful, morally ambiguous decisions. Directed with quiet precision, the film unfolds as a slow-burning domestic thriller rooted in realistic dialogue and watchful, humane filmmaking. The drama isn’t driven by melodrama but by escalating misunderstandings, social pressures and competing obligations—family duty, personal survival, class differences and legal or moral responsibility. Performances are naturalistic and affecting, especially from Maadi, Hatami and Bayat, and the screenplay continually reframes who is right or wrong, denying easy answers. If you watch A Separation, expect an emotionally gripping, thought-provoking experience: tense domestic scenes, fraught conversations, and courtroom and public confrontations that examine truth, guilt and compassion. The film asks you to weigh conflicting perspectives rather than hand you a moral verdict, leaving you unsettled but deeply engaged—an intimate portrait of ordinary people trapped in extraordinary ethical dilemmas.

Actors: Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat

Director: Asghar Farhadi

Runtime: 123 min

Genre: Drama

7.7 /10 95 /100 8.3 /10 8.5 /10