As the film, "A Separation", starts we are at a divorce hearing where the wife Simin, played by Leila Hatami, has gotten visas for herself, her husband Nader, played by Peyman Moaadi, and their 10 year old daughter Termeh, played by Sarina Farhadi , to go to America but Nader decided it is more important he stay with his father, played by Ali-Asghar Shahbazi, who is in the late stages of Alzheimer, and in order for Simin to leave she must get a divorce.

The
court denies her petition for a divorce and Nader will not give her the
permission she needs to leave the country without it. Simin goes to live with her mother while their daughter decides to stay with her father. Nadar hires a caretaker, Razieh, played by Sareh Bayat, who does not tell her unemployed, hard-line fundamentalist, always angry husband, Hodjat, Shahab Hosseini.
In fact both men are angry for various reasons and due to this anger
many deceptions are enacted and complications ensue for both families
including accusations of stealing money and murder. I can't get too much
more into the plot because there are twists and turns with every
decision, each seemingly logical, that will depend on how you see the
characters.

There is one
major deception done by the director, who also wrote the script, Asghar
Farhadi, when he withholds a major piece of information from the film.
He does bring life in Iran, and the differences of people within a
country, to an audience that may be new to what they see and hear, not
in melodramatic ways but from points of view that can be understood by
all people and depending whose story you are following and believe.

The
actors, including the daughter of the director, give quiet, understated
performances while the director/writer stays away from manipulating the
audience but does make them question what has happened and leaves open
what will happen.

My personal
opinion is that while "A Separation" is interesting, a good film, that
opened a door to people, places that I was not familiar with, it is not
one that I would pick for an Oscar, a film to be remembered, to be seen
again.