Film

A Separation

Name: A Separation
Genre: Drama
Released: 2011
Cast: Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Shahab Hosseini, Sareh Bayat, Sarina Farhadi

Two ordinary people, a broken marriage, and a housekeeper's fall down a staircase spiral into a legal and moral tangle where everyone is telling a version of the truth. Asghar Farhadi builds unbearable tension out of dinner-table arguments and paperwork, refusing you the comfort of a villain. It's for anyone who wants a thriller with no crime, only consequence.

TMDb rating

7.9

If you liked this

The Salesman2016

Farhadi's own follow-up applies the same forensic morality to a different secret — an assault, a landlord, a husband's need for justice curdling into something uglier. Just as tightly wound.

But If you found A Separation's slow tightening exhausting, this one winds even tighter and takes longer to release.

Marriage Story2019

Noah Baumbach's divorce drama gives equal, devastating weight to both sides of a marriage's collapse, much like Farhadi does — you'll finish it unable to pick a villain.

But More verbally explosive and Hollywood in its rhythms; lacks the social and legal pressure-cooker that makes the Iranian film so claustrophobic.

Shoplifters2018

Hirokazu Kore-eda's Japanese family drama has the same quiet, devastating slow reveal of what people do out of love and desperation, and what it costs the state to judge them for it.

But Warmer and gentler for most of its runtime before the gut-punch — a very different emotional pace than Farhadi's constant low simmer.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Rashomon1950

It's the structural ancestor — the courtroom-as-hall-of-mirrors device Farhadi uses was born here over seventy years earlier.

Kurosawa's film invented the idea that A Separation runs on: the same event, told by different people, each one telling the truth as they experienced it — and none of them lying.

But Silent-era pacing and theatrical acting styles will feel alien if your reference point for 'foreign classic' starts around 2011.

Force Majeure2014

A single instant of cowardice unravels a marriage in this Swedish drama, with the same interest in how ordinary people justify themselves after failing each other.

But Colder and more satirical, with dashes of dark comedy that A Separation never allows itself.

About Elly2009no page yet

Farhadi's earlier film, and in some ways the blueprint — a group of friends, a small lie, and a disappearance that exposes every fault line in the group's decency.

But Rougher-edged and less polished than the later films, with a larger ensemble that takes time to sort out.

The Hunt2012

A false accusation destroys a man's life in a small Danish town — the same interest in how communities decide guilt long before any court does.

But Angrier and more punishing in tone; where Farhadi stays ambiguous, this film wants you furious on its protagonist's behalf.

Capernaum2018

A Lebanese courtroom frames a child's suit against his own parents, using law as a lens on poverty and neglect the way Farhadi uses it to expose class and pride.

But More overtly miserablist and manipulative with its imagery than Farhadi's restraint; some find it heavy-handed.

Scener ur ett äktenskap1973

Bergman's original miniseries anatomises a divorce in painstaking, intimate detail — the granddaddy of the genre A Separation belongs to, and just as merciless.

But Very talky and stage-bound by design; six episodes of two people arguing is a big ask if you want plot.

Kramer vs. Kramer1979

The classic custody drama that first made mainstream audiences sit with a divorce from both sides — softer and more sentimental, but built on the same bones.

But Its late-70s gender politics feel dated now, and its resolution is far tidier than Farhadi would ever allow.

Honeyland2019

Same moral engine — dignity, survival, and a dispute that has no clean winner — but nobody wrote a line of it; it happened.

An unscripted documentary about a Macedonian beekeeper whose livelihood is threatened by a new neighbour — real people caught in exactly the kind of economic and moral bind Farhadi writes.

But No actors, no dialogue crafted for drama — its power comes from patience and observation, which can feel slow if you want a story shaped for you.

Big Little Lies2017

Takes the same premise — a marriage's private violence colliding with a legal reckoning — and plays it in the trashiest, richest possible register.

Glossy Monterey mothers, a marriage hiding violence, a death nobody will explain honestly — all the DNA of Farhadi's domestic secrets, just soaked in HBO gloss and Chardonnay.

But Prestige-TV melodrama with movie stars and a moody score; the opposite of Farhadi's austerity, and some will find it soapy by comparison.