Laura, a Spanish woman living in Argentina, returns with her family to the small Spanish village where she grew up for the wedding of her younger sister. It’s a village where everybody knows her name – and all the skeletons in her closet too. The story takes a dark turn when a crime is committed. By the end, we know who has committed the crime, and pretty soon everybody else in town will know too. It’s unclear, though, whether justice will be served.
This film, directed by the Iranian Asgar Farhadi, is not quite up to the standard of his best work (Salesman, A Separation) but it is still pretty good. Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are some of the best actors working in film today, and it is good to see them in roles that are complex and interesting, not stereotypes (looking at you Vicky Cristina Barcelona). Recommended. On Netflix.
