I just came home from seeing the movie, so it's fresh in my mind right now.

the qualities that this movie has: 1. masterfully directed 2. wonderfully written screenplay (the opening, the ending and the exchanged dialogs are all very well- written.very close to reality.no cheesy scenes.believable) 3. amazing performances

Most of the people who watch this movie, already have "A Separation" in their mind and are automatically comparing the two movies the entire time of watching.I kind of was doing the same thing. but I stopped that thought and tried to enjoy this and focus on this movie only.I'm glad I did so.in my opinion, the two movies are different.this one has a different theme and atmosphere and it's romantic at times. there was more tension in "A Separation" and almost all scenes were showing a stressful moment.but this movie has some scenes in between that are calmer.so it might be considered slow by some, which again I think, is because it's being compared with the director's previous work.

I personally think "The past" is a very well-made movie with an interesting story and a must see.I definitely recommend it to all movie lovers.

I give it a 10, cause I can't really think of anything in the film that I was bothered by, or any weaknesses.

Ahmad arrives in Paris from Iran after a four years absence to finalize his divorce from Marie. He finds that she is living with another man Samir and his son Fouad. The house is in disarray with Fouad acting up. Samir is a drycleaner whose wife is in a come. Marie doesn't get along with older daughter Lucie. She has another daughter Léa, both are from before Ahmad. She's pregnant which Ahmad unknowingly reveals to Lucie. Lucie has suspicions about Samir's wife's supposed suicide attempt which left her in a coma.

There is this underlining tension from the first moment of the movie. The audience is in the dark about this family which is revealed slowly. The first half of the movie is a little slow. The piecing together of the family does keep my attention. The personal drama packs quite a punch when it happens. Director Asghar Farhadi's style is a bit slow and doesn't push the tension to the fullest. If the pace is tightened, the drama could be heightened.