A woman leans her head out of a car window, whooping and screaming with exhilaration, the wind pushing the scarf covering her hair further back from her brow. The driver turns to look at her, smiling, as his other passengers do the same. The friends from Tehran and their young families are on their way to a seaside weekend of dancing, joking and laughter in what promises to be a vibrant, joyful film.

… a web of lies weaves a bristling divide with an ease that is deeply unsettling.

Asghar Farhadi’s ABOUT ELLY swiftly darkens in tone, however. Schoolteacher Elly has been invited by Sedipeh, the mother of one of her pupils, in order that she might meet divorcée Ahmad, with sense of unease growing as she distances herself from the group. Her suggestion that she will leave early is met with friendly negation, but discomfort soon escalates to tragedy. One of the children is narrowly prevented from drowning, and when the chaos calms it is discovered that Elly is missing. During the frantic search which ensues, questions and doubts arise. Has she abandoned her vigil over the children and left without a word? Or has she been lost to the sea in an ill-fated rescue attempt? As her distressed hosts are questioned by the police they realise how little they really knew about Elly. Even Sedipeh does not know her guest’s last name.

As one white lie leads to another, one untruth leads to a greater deception, a web of lies weaves a bristling divide with an ease that is deeply unsettling. Bearing witness to the sowing of each tiny seed of doubt, each unsought betrayal, the audience begins to share in the sense of guilt which hangs heavy in the sea air. Blame shifts constantly with the breeze as the innocent become suspect and an undercurrent of distrust even amongst the closest of friends sweeps values once though steadfast up onto the shore. Even the children are dragged under with the tide of their parents’ incertitude and are no more innocent than we, as wavering thoughts and fear score deep in Farhadi’s meditation on friendship, complicity and the very nature of truth itself.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-CAKV2CUU0