Synopsis
The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.
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Cast
- Golshifteh FarahaniSepideh
- Shahab HosseiniAhmad
- Payman MaadiPeyman
- Merila ZareiShohreh
- Ahmad MehranfarManoochehr
- Mani HaghighiAmir
- Rana AzadivarNaazi
- Taraneh AlidoostiElly
- Saber AbarAlireza
- Amin Zebarjad
Recommendations
- 91
The A.V. Club
This is clearly the work of a master in the making, an artist on the cusp of greatness. Farhadi may be fixated on fibbers, but there’s almost no one working today who makes films so emotionally honest. - 90
The Hollywood Reporter
A taut, involving drama centered around the mysterious disappearance of a young woman, About Elly confirms director Asghar Farhadi as a major talent in Iranian cinema whose ability to chronicle the middle-class malaise of his society is practically unrivaled. - 88
Slant Magazine
Asghar Farhadi's sensibility embodies a combination of empathy and paranoia that's striking considering that the latter is normally driven by self-absorption. - 80
The Guardian
About Elly confirms Farhadi's shrewd judgment of pace, dramatic technique and formal control of an ensemble cast. - 80
The Telegraph
Farhadi’s films are like moral whodunits, and as Sepideh and her friends gradually unearth the truth, he expertly buffets our sympathies in all directions until the very last shot. - 80
Total Film
Another shrewdly gauged study of our capacity for deception and self-deception from A Separation’s auteur. Emotionally devastating. - 80
Variety
While not equaling the depth of characterization of Farhadi’s previous films, About Elly takes the complexity of his storytelling to a fascinating level. However, the variable quality of the thesping also prevents the pic from being his best work. - 80
The New Yorker
About Elly both clutches us tight and shuts us out, adding wave upon wave of secrets and lies.
