84
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100VarietyDeborah YoungVarietyDeborah YoungFew Iranian films have tried to realistically depict both the urban middle and lower classes, and fewer still with the complexity of story telling and depth of characterization in Asghar Farhadi’s impressive third feature, Fireworks Wednesday.
- 90Village VoiceVillage VoiceIt proves to be not just interesting in how it foreshadows the filmmaker's more mature works, but also a gripping piece of storytelling in its own right.
- 88Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardAsghar Farhadi's 2006 film interrogates the tensions between tactility and vision in complex ways.
- 88RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireRogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireAs [Farhadi] does to such masterful effect in “A Separation,” here he constructs a story that keeps revealing new thematic and psychological layers, ones that often come to light through the shifting of perspective from one character to another, a technique that deepens our sympathy for the people we’re watching to the point of our realizing that, as in Renoir, “everyone has their reasons.”
- 80The GuardianPaul MacInnesThe GuardianPaul MacInnesThis is a thoroughly engrossing and densely textured drama, showing Farhadi's cool skill in dissecting the Iranian middle classes and the unhappiness of marriage.
- 80The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenAs with Mr. Farhadi’s other films, every detail of speech and body language resonates.
- 80CineVuePatrick GambleCineVuePatrick GambleAs with all of Farhadi's films there's a frailty behind his characters, with their insecurities and moral dilemmas bubbling to the surface as the director slowly raises the temperature in this pressure cooker of domestic strife. Nervous editing and sinuous cinematography also give the impression that Farhadi is choreographing his stars rather than directing them.
- 75New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeFarhadi brings keen discernment to this unraveling marriage, and a third-act revelation packs a wallop.
- 60Time OutBen KenigsbergTime OutBen Kenigsberg[Farhadi and cowriter Mani Haghighi] prove to be stronger on atmosphere than on structure, aided by crisp, unnerving camerawork.