The Past

    Writer/director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) returns with his second film about marital discord. This time the film is set in a city outside Paris where an estranged couple is about to finalize their divorce, but like his previous film, the story grows more complicated as it goes on.

      The wife, Marie (Berenice Bejo), meets Ahmad ( Ali Mosaffa) who has just arrived to sign their divorce papers so she can marry Samir (Tarhar Rahim). Marie has two daughters from an even earlier marriage and also cares for Samir's young son. Early on, Mr. Farhadi build tension as secrets are revealed and plot complications begin to pile up. You wonder just where the story is going but I was ultimately disappointed by where it ends up.

         There is a lot of dialogue that captures your interest at first but halfway through the film, everything slows to a crawl and any interest at this point deflates and leaves the story to go out on a quiet note with unresolved issues. 

          There is quite a buzz around this domestic drama and while "A Separation" left you with one question at the end, this film leaves you asking many questions. As one character says "Why did you drag me into this mess?" That's the biggest question of all.