In the 15 years since his first feature, Asghar Farhadi has consistently proven himself one of cinema’s most incisive and observant dramatists. The sun-dappled Everybody Knows, which takes place in Spain and is Farhadi’s second film to be made outside of Iran (the first was 2013’s Paris-set The Past), has all of the qualities and hallmarks we have come to expect from this world-class filmmaker.

Making the most of a powerhouse cast, Farhadi weaves a convoluted web of mistrust and deceit. When Laura (Cruz) returns to her native Spain for her sister’s wedding, leaving her husband Alejandro (Darín) back in Argentina to search for work (the first of many lies to come), she is reunited with a longtime family friend (Bardem)—a bristly man with whom she was once romantically involved. As if this tense situation wasn’t fraught enough, Farhadi adds wood to the fire: Laura’s daughter suddenly vanishes from the wedding reception and is nowhere to be found…

"The outer threat, the inner wound and the mystery in between. These are the determinant factors in Asghar Farhadi’s intimately painful and powerfully acted kidnap drama… Such flair, such muscular confidence… Farhadi’s storytelling has overpowering force." – PETER BRADSHAW, THE GUARDIAN