Lousy, bad, slow. Because? Let's start with the audio. I speak Spanish and at times I didn't understand what they were saying. If you dare to watch it, watch it with subtitles. Because otherwise you are lost.The actors talk to themselves, and that is not compensated by improved audio. The film is divided into two: before Irene's kidnapping and after. And it's totally bipolar. The first half is all euphoria, the family, the meeting, the wedding, the celebration. Everything is joy and laughter. Then comes the kidnapping and from that moment on, the collective depression until the end. Come on, one does not expect Javier Bardem or Ricardo Darin to become Liam Nesson in "Taken", but please, a little more movement, action, investigation, dynamism. From that moment on, you see them watching each other's faces sitting in a room, Penelope Cruz crying, and everyone waiting for a miracle to happen. This is the antithesis of what a family would do if their daughter were kidnapped. Nobody has the motivation or the neurons to do a minimal investigation to discover how she was kidnapped. Look for footprints, possible places where she would be captive, nothing. And the family drama doesn't make up for that absence in the story, not even close. The culprit is the Director and a very poorly put together script. By the way, I watched it in pieces on the cable, because the audio problem made it impossible for me to understand it. Not recommendable.

Don't compare this movie to others of the same director. Judge by its own merits and you'll see that is good.

Farhadi fuori dai confini Iraniani riesce nuovamente a creare un'opera complessa, con una trama solida e dei dialoghi mai banali resi ancor più credibili da una serie di personaggi ben definiti e vari. La maggior differenza rispetto alle sue opere, è che l'evento principale resta ben presente e centrale per tutta la durata del film, lasciando meno spazi allo sviluppo delle relazioni e delle situazioni. Viene data la priorità al liberarsi delle emozioni che la fanno da padrona, viene meno seguito lo sviluppo delle "indagini interne" che forse sarebbe stato più snervante e teso. Il finale in dolce amaro lascia un tocco degno del regista che offre un altro prodotto di grande qualità.

At the beginning the movie was boring, then, it remained boring and ended boring, predictable and inconclusive. The one star is because the actors are good. Besides that there's nothing happening for 30 minutes, then the main plot actually develops in a less than 20 minutes after 1 hrs of movie. This is not a mystery thriller, there are not really clues "to solve", it's just pointing fingers. When the plot finally resolves, it is so inconclusive that Yes, just like that sentence. This is not a "cult movie" just because it's in Spanish. Believe me, I'm a native Spanish speaker and it's also boring in the original language.

The start of the movie was really promising, the development of the story keeps you on your toes , the acting was faultless. Then the story at the end was the greatest disappointment.

When Laura (Penelope Cruz) and her two children travel from Argentina to Spain, they expect nothing more than to reunite with family and enjoy her sister's wedding. However, things take an unexpected turn when her teenage daughter is kidnapped during the reception, resulting in anguish, mistrust, and the unearthing of buried secrets. Director Asghar Farhadi turns what could have been a standard thriller into something much more by focusing primarily on the characters' reaction to a situation rather than the situation itself, much like his earlier film A Separation. Despite its tepid climax, Everybody Knows is a fascinating character study of a family in distress, clearly Farhadi's area of expertise.

This is a decent mystery film, with good characterisation and it certainly kept me guessing. It does feature quite a bit of shaky camerawork, which may irritate some. Its not especially fast paced either but I enjoyed it, in terms of it being a bit of a soap opera watch, with the viewer learning more about the key characters as the plot continued and it certainly does well at depicting a mothers desperation for answers, to be reunited with her child, with a decent performance from Penelope Cruz. There are some twists and turns present and I'd recommed the film overall, yes.

Definitely not the best Farhadi film, but if it brings a wider, international audience to the master's filmography, then it's all worth it.

Using a whodunit style mystery as a vehicle, writer/director Asghar Farhadi once again, in signature fashion, explores the emotions and drama that occurs between humans when a stressful event puts great strain on their relationships. By putting the dramatic side of things first and foremost and not focusing too much on the other part of the plot (which is central to proceedings), it means that the mystery aspect feels like it isn't quite as well handled as it could have been. Thankfully, everything else is top-notch: it's well-filmed, the characters and the drama that ensues are well-written and realistic-feeling, and the acting from a stellar cast is truly superb. This might not be Farhadi's best film, but when you're talking about the talented director, you can be sure that it's still pretty damn great.

I genuinely dont get how people are so hard on this movie and so forgiving on others. Farhadi is unbelievable, and the tapestry of characters and what they're hiding in this is nothing short of masterful. Seriously wtf.

This movie is a great depiction of how some ordinary families deal with issues. This is a simple drama using strong acting while focusing on relationships. Laura's daughter Irene is kidnapped and the family focuses on old grudges and secrets. Multiple times we see how secrets destroy this family, but the habit continues. What is brilliant about the film is Asghar Farhadi's was able to create the same feeling for the audience as the family…dread. We want to know what happened and who did it but unable to do anything. He left the audience in the dark, leaving us impatient. It seems as if the movie moved at a snail pace but on the contrary, there was always movement. This story isn't like Taken, where a family member is some badass going to get his kid back. It's a family like us with limited abilities and left feeling powerless. The longer Irene is gone, the more uncomfortable, suspicious, and resentful the family becomes. The anxiety was eventually relieved with an ending that wasn't my cup of tea…but it's like life. In life we don't get the perfect ending, sometimes it's sloppy. It's a fitting ending but not satisfying. It's like craving cookies and cream ice-cream but you only have vanilla. In all, the acting was phenomenal, Penelope Cruz was perfect for the part. The score was fitting, the cinematography was great (I loved the scenery). The story was interesting. The characters seem real. This is a great film to watch if you can handle a film with ordinary imperfect humans. It satisfies even if it doesn't hit the spot.

I find it a shame that a movie with such tremendous acting, character development and a story that reveals its secrets in a way that keeps the attention of the viewer can be ruined by such a weak and unsatisfying ending. The reveal was cheap and ruined the experience for me. The ending left a lot to be desired. I still give it three stars for the other aspects it performed well.

It was very boring actually. Mainly because it was too long. It should've been a short story in a book. The cast was great but they weren't enough to save the movie from its slow pace.

I found the movie very interesting! It starts out slowly, and then evolves from there. More and more happens while the secrets are told. It's made in a way that keep you interested throughout the entire movie.

Just meh. It's so drawn out. Could have and should have been done in 90 minutes. And the "web" of dark secrets turns out not to be dark or even really a secret. Hard to find text messages menacing so they're no thriller here. And finally the girl who was kidnapped displayed such terrible behavior I'm not sure I ended up caring all that much that she was taken. I was more interested in how Laura got the money to fly all the way to Spain with two kids if she's broke than about whether the kid was found. Never got to find that out. Don't bother.

Story is very weak, as well as the protagonists motives. Rather a 'wannabe' big drama than it really is.

Excellent movie ! Great actors ! Asghar Farhadi great director as usual ! The plot is a little weak compared to other Farhadi's works. But really worth watching.

Asghar Farhadi’s sensibilities do not translate well in the Spanish landscapes. A mismatch.

What an amazing movie! I really enjoyed this from beginning to end. I wish that film had another 15min but I guess that's what makes the ending so impactful, bc they just ended right there and then. And I must note now that in most of my fav Spanish films, Ricardo Darin is basically in each one. I really have to work through his library. The acting was really good in this one. Each of the major characters really sold their roles and that made it feel so authentic (ie it really hit close to home). They took a standard blueprint for this kind of plot and they added their own touch it, namely the final act. I definitely recommend this movie for all movie fans, and especially for those that love international thrillers.

I like foreign movies that take place in a small village, it gives a good view of how life must be like there. Combine that with some strong acting and writing, you get a family crime drama that pulls the story from the deep drama a big family can contain within the confines of such a small space. It's a good flick if you're into intrigue, mystery and eye-to-eye calling each other out on all the shit. A bit misguided with camera work, imo, but a well-brought movie that'll keep you guessing until the reveal.