101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (*so far)

This tense, riveting, morally complex film looks at two disparate and troubled Iranian families, the choices that decent people make out of fear, and the part that culture plays in it all. Writer Asghar Farhadi offers no easy solutions. He told The Guardian, “Today’s world needs more questions than answers. I’m not hiding the answers away from my viewers, I simply don’t know them. If you give an answer to your viewer, your film will simply finish in the movie theatre. But when you pose questions, your film actually begins after people watch it. In fact, your film will continue inside the viewer. The important thing is to think and give the viewer the opportunity to think. In Iran, more than anything else at the moment, we need the audience to think.” The result makes for haunting viewing.