The Past

Ahmad, an Iranian back in France to finalize a divorce procedure with Marie, is going to be the involuntarily detonator of a time bomb by unveiling all the not-said things in an uptight blended family created by Marie and Samir, in the suburbs of Paris. Although he is not perfect, Ahmad is fundamentally empathetic and gets the conversations flowing. Thus, during these few days, he will be like the missing piece of a complex puzzle, and thanks to (because of ?) him, secrets will be revealed. With this growing tension, we sense that this blended family will either come out grown up or either imploded.

I invite you very strongly to discover the end of this beautiful film. During two hours, you will bathe in a tub filled with delicacy, anger, benevolence, love, sadness, respect, betrayal, empathy, ... The whole cast is excellent. Ali Mosaffa, Tahar Rahim and Pauline Burlet are particularly tremendous. Moreover, the photography, the music, the script and the direction are sublime. As a synthesis: 8/9 of 10.