Review: Everybody Knows

Image courtesy of Focus Features.

Those familiar with the work of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi know that his films tend to be complex studies of moral ambiguity that often incorporate elements of thrillers. His masterpiece "A Separation" was a fascinating, Oscar-winning film about the distance between what we perceive to be the truth, and what actually is. His other recent films - "About Elly," "The Past" and "The Salesman," another Oscar winner - are tense movies that explore small human dramas, but also have mysteries at their centers.

His latest, "Everybody Knows," his first film in Spanish, fits in perfectly with his overall body of work. The film starts as a reunion picture, in which a large family converges on a small town in Spain for a wedding. But we learn that resentments have long been buried among its members over land disputes, and that a long-ago romance between one of its members, Laura (Penelope Cruz), and a servant's son, Paco (Javier Bardem), who has since purchased a piece of the family's property and built a successful winery, was never quite resolved.

However, during the course of the wedding, the lights go out. When they come back on, Laura discovers that her teenage daughter is missing. The family soon realizes that she has been kidnapped, and a $300,000 price tag has been attached to her being returned safely. The long buried resentments rise to the surface as the family desperately attempts to prevent the police from hearing about the kidnapping - the girl's life has been threatened if the authorities are contacted - and come up with the ransom money.

Farhadi's films often use stillness and inaction to create tension, and that is certainly utilized in "Everybody Knows," perhaps a bit too much as the film is slightly longer than it probably should be. That being said, while not among the director's best films, his latest is beautifully shot, engrossing and driven by solid performances from its cast.

Although Cruz is very good as the concerned mother of the missing girl, Bardem steals most scenes as Paco, a decent man who still clearly cares about Laura, despite her family's unkind attitude towards him. One of the film's more interesting elements is how it incorporates class tensions into the mix. Paco is looked down upon by the family, while most of the villagers resent Laura's family, despite the fact that many of them rely on the family for wages. In other words, Laura's daughter's kidnapper could be literally anyone, which keeps things suspenseful.

The story is further complicated when Laura's husband, Alejandro (Ricardo Darin), shows up to get involved. Laura and her husband live in Argentina, and the film depicts them as being slightly estranged from the rest of the family. Tensions are further exacerbated as Alejandro's approach to finding his daughter is leaving it up to God, while Paco and Laura are more concerned with practical matters. A plot twist that I won't give away further complicates the situation.

While the answer to the film's riddle shouldn't surprise anyone, Farhadi's latest juggles various elements - family and relationship dramas, class tensions and a thriller plotline - fairly deftly. As I'd mentioned, "Everybody Knows" isn't one of his best films, but it's still pretty good - and certainly fits in with his overall body of work.