--- title: "A Separation" year: 2011 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/a-separation" fi1m_id: "a-separation" imdb_id: "tt1832382" tmdb_id: 60243 wikidata_id: "Q640561" fi1m_score: 93 critics_score: 83 critics_reviews: 11 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:00.665815+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # A Separation (2011) Directed by Asghar Farhadi · 2h 03m · MPA PG-13 · Drama ## Identity A Separation - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/a-separation - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** a-separation - **IMDb ID:** tt1832382 - **TMDB ID:** 60243 - **Wikidata ID:** Q640561 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1832382/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/60243, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q640561 **Fi1m score: 93** · Critics 83 from 11 reviews *In a sentence:* Every adult has an explanation; the children could use a quieter room > Asghar Farhadi’s family drama is gripping, upsetting and unusually fair to people behaving badly. A few plot complications look carefully placed, but we recommend it without hesitation for the actors and the uncomfortable attention paid to the children. ## Synopsis In Tehran, Nader (Payman Maadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are separating. Their daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi) is caught between them as a dispute over marriage and family obligations becomes entangled with a legal struggle. Razieh (Sareh Bayat) and Hojjat (Shahab Hosseini) are drawn into the conflict, which brings differences of class, religion and responsibility into the arguments between the adults. Razieh’s daughter Somayyeh (Kimia Hosseini) is also present as the families try to establish whose account should be believed. Each explanation asks the others to reconsider what they think they know. ## Review Asghar Farhadi’s *A Separation* makes a family dispute gripping enough to hold us through every change of mind. We would recommend it to almost anyone, including people who think they have had enough arguments at home. A separating couple, a child between them and a legal struggle give the writer-director plenty to untangle, but he keeps returning to the difficulty of getting another person to listen. Each explanation makes sense for long enough that we begin to accept it, then someone else gets a turn. Payman Maadi’s Nader and Leila Hatami’s Simin are persuasive enough to frustrate any hope of choosing a side and staying there. Maadi makes Nader’s certainty uncomfortable: we understand how a person can be convinced of his own decency and still be difficult to live with. Hatami gives Simin equal force, and the marriage feels substantial enough for its unravelling to matter. Sareh Bayat’s Razieh and Shahab Hosseini’s Hojjat are just as carefully played, with differences of class and religion informing the quarrels without explaining away anyone’s behaviour. Mahmoud Kalari’s mobile camera makes us attend to the people around a speaker as well as the person speaking. The agitation suits the arguments, but the staging remains clear enough that we can keep looking for a response. Glass partitions in Keyvan Moghaddam’s production design allow Farhadi to keep people in sight even when they are physically divided. It is an effective use of an ordinary domestic feature, and it avoids making the home feel like a diagram of the family’s problems. Hayedeh Safiyari’s editing keeps the dense plotting legible, an unglamorous achievement on which much of the suspense depends. We do occasionally notice how precisely Farhadi has arranged the complications; another difficult question can arrive just when the screenplay needs one. Those moments briefly make the people seem more obedient to the story than they should, though the actors soon recover the sense of ordinary, stubborn behaviour. Sattar Oraki’s music is restrained enough that we never feel instructed to forgive anyone, which is the right judgement for this film. Sarina Farhadi’s quiet, watchful Termeh is the performance that stayed with us. We were upset by her attention to the adults, because their need to explain themselves keeps placing a burden on a child who did not cause the quarrel. She makes listening look tiring, and the film gives that tiredness time to register. The attention paid to the children prevents the disputes about truth and responsibility from becoming an exercise we can enjoy solving. Her quietness remains part of the scene even when an adult has our attention. The suspense is strong enough to satisfy someone who usually avoids domestic drama. Farhadi understands how quickly a discussion becomes frightening when admitting a mistake might cost someone more than they can bear. At 123 minutes, it asks for sustained attention and earns it through the precision of the writing and the cast. Give it an evening when nobody needs cheering up, and leave time afterwards to disagree. *Fi1m score 93, published 15 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics praise A Separation as a gripping domestic drama whose disputes expose divisions of class, religion, gender and generation. Praise centres on Farhadi’s precise writing and generosity towards competing viewpoints: the reviews repeatedly note how sympathy shifts without the film settling into easy judgements. The performances, particularly the daughter’s quiet watchfulness, draw admiration, while the mobile camerawork and staging reinforce the uncertainty over what each character knows. Several reviews find the children’s position especially affecting, giving the moral questions an immediate human cost. The spread is strongly favourable, with one sharp dissent rather than a broad set of shared reservations. The New Yorker admires the opening but finds that visual tension fades, leaving schematic, plot-driven moral puzzles with too little resonance or imagination. That objection cuts directly across the prevailing view: most critics regard the intricate plotting as a source of suspense and complexity rather than a constraint. ## Straight answers **Is A Separation worth watching?** *A Separation* is worth watching for almost anyone, and we scored it 93. Asghar Farhadi turns a Tehran couple's separation and the legal struggle around it into a drama gripping enough for people who usually avoid family arguments. It is upsetting rather than cheering, especially in its attention to the children, so choose an evening when nobody needs consoling. **How long is A Separation, and what is it rated?** *A Separation* runs 2h 03m and is rated PG-13 by the MPA in the US. It is a drama film. **Where can I watch A Separation in the US?** *A Separation* is streaming on Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Apple TV from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does A Separation compare to Late Spring?** *A Separation* is the more agitated and suspenseful of the two, while [*Late Spring*](https://film.one/film/late-spring) is slower, quieter and more painful in its politeness. Both films watch a child caught between family expectations, but Farhadi's adults argue where Ozu's father and daughter withhold. We rate them almost equally; pick the Iranian film for tension and the Japanese one for stillness. **What should I watch after A Separation?** After *A Separation*, try [*Late Spring*](https://film.one/film/late-spring) (1949, Fi1m 92): A father and daughter face family expectations with painfully careful politeness. Then [*Secrets & Lies*](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies) (1996, Fi1m 88): Family secrets emerge through performances that make awkward conversations hard to leave; and [*Kramer vs. Kramer*](https://film.one/film/kramer-vs-kramer) (1979, Fi1m 82): Another separating couple whose child pays for arguments neither parent can settle. ### Reviews we read (13) - **Slant Magazine**, Nick Schager (4/4): The critic calls it a superb drama, noting its empathy for competing points of view. It is singled out for recognizing how facts, lies and self-interest are tangled without providing definitive statements. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/a-separation/) - **Evening Standard** (90/100, inferred): The critic highlights the film’s profound moral depth and restraint, presenting a series of conundrums in a style close to documentary that makes viewers reconsider actions and consequences. The universal story of a child torn between separating parents is engrossing and wrenching. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/a-separation-review-7425575.html) - **Film Comment**, Godfrey Cheshire (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Farhadi as a major new auteur whose film stands out for its emotional and moral complexity, with sympathies shifting fluidly among characters in a layered domestic and class drama. The intricate staging with glass partitions and mobile camerawork is singled out as matching the story's shifting perspectives. [Read](https://www.filmcomment.com/article/scenes-from-a-marriage/) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): This powerful, complex Iranian drama centres on a conflict that cuts across boundaries of gender and class. Farhadi transforms an ugly quarrel into a contemporary tragedy, with the children bearing the heaviest burden. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/jun/30/a-separation-review) - **Empire**, David Parkinson (85/100, inferred): The critic praises Farhadi’s densely plotted, morally complex drama that exposes divisions throughout Iranian society through a legal struggle sparked by divorce and family obligations. Restless camerawork highlights unspoken suspicions in a nation far from united. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/separation-review/) - **Screen Daily** (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a gripping moral and social drama that lifts Farhadi to the front rank of contemporary world directors. They single out the way it keeps compassion for the two children afloat while raising complex questions of responsibility and truth. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/nader-and-simin-a-separation/5023837.article) - **Little White Lies**, Julian White (3/4/4): The critic finds it a deceptively powerful and gripping drama by one of Iran’s finest directors. They single out the precision of Farhadi’s writing, the spryness of his direction and the generosity of his outlook. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/a-separation) - **Time Out**, Dave Calhoun (4/5): The critic praises the film as lively and suspenseful drama and debate that plunges viewers into life in Tehran with an urgent sense of reality. They single out its strong writing, characterisation, acting and morally teasing dynamic. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/a-separation) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the opening scene audacious but laments that the rest of the film loses visual tension and becomes a schematic collection of events without symbol, resonance or imagination. It singles out the plot-driven moral puzzles arising from the separation. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/a-separation-parting-shots) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Deborah Young: The critic finds it a tensely involving Iranian drama with niche potential. It is praised for its moral, psychological and social complexity that brings Iranian society into focus without taking sides with any characters. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/a-separation-film-review-99930/) - **The New York Times**, A.O. Scott (Critic's Pick): The critic praises the film's rigorous honesty about the difficulties of truth and its portrait of a society divided by sex, generation, religion and class. It singles out the subtlety of the performances, particularly the quiet, watchful portrayal by the young daughter. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/movies/a-separation-directed-by-asghar-farhadi-review.html) - **The Skinny**, Lewis Porteous (★★★★★): The critic calls it the year's finest example of complex, humanistic Iranian filmmaking, highlighting Farhadi's Hitchcockian suspense and the faultless cast. The sympathetic, recognisable portrayal of modern Iranians navigating class, religion, family and responsibility is singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/a-separation) - **Eye for Film**, Jennie Kermode (80/100, inferred): The film draws viewers into a complex, believable scenario of marital and social tensions in contemporary Iran, inviting judgment while showing that nothing is simple. It is well acted and thoughtful, using a realistically messy plot to explore strong central themes of class, honor, and moral ambiguity in a society in flux. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/a-separation-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) ## Details - **Director:** Asghar Farhadi - **Director:** Asghar Farhadi - **Writer:** Asghar Farhadi - **Cinematography:** Mahmoud Kalari - **Editor:** Hayedeh Safiyari - **Music:** Sattar Oraki - **Production design:** Keyvan Moghaddam - **Producer:** Asghar Farhadi - **Cast:** Payman Maadi as Nader; Leila Hatami as Simin; Shahab Hosseini as Hojjat; Sareh Bayat as Razieh; Sarina Farhadi as Termeh; Ali-Asghar Shahbazi as Nader's Father; Merila Zarei as Miss Ghahraii - Termeh's Teacher; Babak Karimi as Interrogator - **Runtime:** 2h 03m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13 - **Release (the US):** 29 December 2011 - **Genres:** Drama - **Also in:** [Golden Bear winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-bear.md) (Winner, 2011) - **Budget:** $5 million - **Box office:** $24 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Onuy5USTc ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: add-on, hd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-15.* Also available in: AR, AT, BE, CA, CL, CO, DK, FI, FR, GB, IE, IL, JP, MX, NL, NO, PA, SE, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2012: Best Writing, Original Screenplay (nominated); Best International Feature Film (won) - International Submission to the Academy Awards 2012: International Submission to the Academy Awards (nominated) - Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Feature Film 2011: Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Feature Film (won) - Berlin International Film Festival 2011: Best Actor (won); Best Actress (won); Golden Bear (won) ## If you liked this - *About Elly* (2009): Farhadi puts another group under pressure until their reassurances become difficult to trust. - *Late Spring* (1949), Fi1m 92: A father and daughter face family expectations with painfully careful politeness. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/late-spring.md) - *Secrets & Lies* (1996), Fi1m 88: Family secrets emerge through performances that make awkward conversations hard to leave. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/secrets-and-lies.md) - *The Child* (2005): A young father’s disastrous decision makes responsibility something immediate and uncomfortable. - *Kramer vs. Kramer* (1979), Fi1m 82: Another separating couple whose child pays for arguments neither parent can settle. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/kramer-vs-kramer.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/a-separation