A Separation

Nader and Simin are a married couple in Iran who have decided to leave the country in search of a better life. Their plans fall apart when Nader chooses to remain behind to care for his father, who has Alzheimer's disease. Simin seeks a divorce so she can emigrate with their young daughter, but her petition is rejected. She moves out, and the daughter must decide which parent to live with. Nader hires a woman to look after his father while he works, and the arrangement draws the household into a widening dispute involving her family, her employer and the courts.

Asghar Farhadi wrote, directed and produced the film, which followed his earlier features Fireworks Wednesday and About Elly and preceded The Past, The Salesman, Everybody Knows, A Hero and Parallel Tales. Payman Maadi plays Nader and Leila Hatami plays Simin, with Shahab Hosseini, Sare Bayat, Sarina Farhadi and Ali-Asghar Shahbazi in supporting roles.

Released in 2011, the drama runs 123 minutes and was produced across Iran, France and Australia. It took about 23 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 8.3 out of 10 from roughly 277,000 votes, while on TMDB it has 7.9 from about 2,000 votes, indicating broad audience approval. A critics' rating of 8.9 from 177 reviews places it somewhat higher with reviewers than with audiences.