Everybody Knows [2018] – A Flawed yet Engrossing Family-Disputes Thriller

Iranian film-maker Asghar Farhadi’s movies are all about presenting a devastatingly complex objective truth, the outcome of intricate human relations and their inarticulated, equivocal emotions. With his latest film Everybody Knows (‘Todos lo saben’, 2018), Farhadi transplants his unique dramatic style and pet themes – marital disharmony, class consciousness, conflicted family dynamics, etc – from Iran to a Spanish village. Mr. Farhadi’s previous decision to undertake a film project outside his native Iran (‘The Past’, set in Paris) produced considerably good results (the lead actress Berenice Bejo won Best Actress Award at Cannes). Everybody Knows, although is blessed with phenomenal ensemble cast, isn’t one of Mr. Farhadi’s strongest work. The usual suspenseful and scalding examination of societal divisions, equipped with subtle symbolism, is all present. But the film-maker’s profound layering is substituted a bit by a far too overwrought emotional core.

Everybody Knows could be watched for Farhadi’s gift for extracting enormous tension from strained family relations and class consciousness, even though the eventual resolution of knotty multi-narratives feels shallow. Farhadi opens the film in a breezy manner, organically setting up the members of a sprawling Spanish family, gathered for a wedding. Laura (Penelope Cruz) has flown from Argentina with her wild and pretty teenage daughter Irene (Carla Campra) and little son. She is in the Spanish countryside to attend her younger sister Ana’s (Inma Cuesta) wedding. Laura’s husband Alejandro (Ricardo Darin) has opted to stay in Argentina due to some last minute work. The warm reunion is marked with hugs and kisses as the townspeople look at the family from the expansive, cobblestone-paved streets. The ageing, alcoholic patriarch of the family (Ramon Barea) used to own most of the land in the town, but now he is a man of privilege only in name. Picturesque vineyards surround the small-town and provide chief income for its inhabitants, although there’s some grumbling regarding their distrust in ‘pickers’, who are all mostly unregistered migrant workers.

The major emotional hook of the narrative is the much gossiped former love affair between Laura and Paco (Javier Bardem), once a local farmhand and now owns a thriving vineyard previously owned by Laura’s family. Their initials are carved into the old church bell/clock tower; the passing of time represented by intricately structured wheels and cogs inside the tower forebodes the disclosure of buried secrets and the inevitable tragedy. Paco lives a peaceful life, married to the sensible and good–natured Bea (Barbara Lennie). The first thirty minutes of the film observes the raucous wedding ceremony, which unfurls in a deeply immersive manner and full of wonderful, little character moments. Farhadi elegantly moves through the wine-drunk human enjoyment as if the whole thing is unfolding in real time. But soon the jubilation is upturned by a crisis.

Laura’s free-spirited daughter Irene goes missing, probably kidnapped. Laura receives a text mentioning the ransom demands. Everybody Knows, however, isn’t a kidnap thriller. Similar to About Elly and The Salesman, Farhadi uses the mysterious event to evoke the dangerous mistrust among family members, especially when it’s alluded that those responsible for the crime might have a strong connection to the family. Paco tries to do his best to save Irene, but the family expresses its disdain for selling their estate to him at a lower price, particularly because Laura’s family isn’t now in a position gather the (demanded) huge sum to pay off the kidnappers. Laura’s husband Alejandro shows up, but he is financially inept to take care of the situation.

As usual, the biggest strength in a Farhadi movie is the outstanding performances. Here except Inma Cuesta, all the well-known Spanish-speaking actors – Bardem, Cruz, Darin, Lennie, Fernandez – play deeply-realized characters, and most importantly they all beautifully play together, making those interactions as natural and spontaneous as possible. Bardem and Cruz’s interiorized performances are impressive to watch. The big twist in the narrative is actually easily predictable, but the anguish expressed by the duo keeps us glued to the screen. Farhadi’s film-making style is fluid and understated throughout. He might have missed out a bit in terms of writing, by choosing to dispel the ambiguities for melodrama. Nevertheless, Farhadi brilliantly stages the tenuous borders of class and social hierarchy, which erodes under the pressures of a crisis, maybe right from the opening montage that shows the dilapidated bell tower of the town’s church. I particularly liked how he focuses on the inherent conflict between characters through the spatial dynamics of the scene (take for example the scene when the family equates their misfortune to Paco’s landowner status or the argument between Paco and his wife Bea).

The most intriguing aspect of Farhadi’s films might be the feelings of uncertainty over the principal characters. The emergence of concealed truths makes it hard to truly get inside the characters, but at some level we empathize with them or at least understand their motivations. The problem with ‘Everybody Knows’ is that it becomes too narrow to be a two-way drama (involving just Laura and Paco). So despite Farhadi immaculately establishing the social stratas of different characters (including the minor ones), the pleasant nuances and a possible broader social commentary gets lost among the machinations of the final twist.

Everybody Knows (133 minutes) may not be as profoundly disquieting and incisive as Asghar Farhadi’s superbly crafted and written Iranian masterpieces. Yet the film-maker’s genius for extracting malaise and tension from the simplest of situations turns the film into a gripping study of a family, prised apart by old grudges and hidden secrets.