The past, present and future collide in a confluence of conflict in THE PAST, a mature and assured multi layered story of former expat Parisian Persian by director of A SEPERATION, Asghar Farhadi.

Nominated for a Golden Globe but somehow snubbed by Oscar this multi faceted film in French and Farsi is a complex drama dealing with divorce, suicide and a daughter’s dilemma.

Ahmad has returned to France to finalise his divorce from Marie, who has taken up with another bloke. Marie has two children from a previous relationship.

These kids have a fondness for Ahmad and he for them. Her new bloke, Samir, also has a child, a son who is quite obstreperous, probably a reaction to his mother’s coma, a by-product of a suicide attempt that may have been triggered by her spouse’s infidelity with Marie. Marie is pregnant to Samir and her eldest daughter, Lucie is estranged from her mother over the affair.

In lesser hands, THE PAST could dissolve into sordid soap but Farhadi, working from his own screenplay, deftly navigates this complex narrative away from the suds and into a stunning exploration of the tangled web of human interaction, of blended families, cultures, repercussion and reconciliation.

Berenice Bejo, Oscar nominated for THE ARTIST a couple of years ago, is superb as Marie conflicted on all fronts and facing an uncertain future influenced by a prevailing past.

As Ahmad, Ali Mosaffa brings a quiet dignity to the man who wants to lay the past to rest by reconciling the present.

Performances throughout are top notch as the structure of the narrative continues to present revelations of cause and effect. Exceptionally engaging, elevating the plain and mundane to the epic.

THE PAST is an engrossing panoply of people, choices, actions and the impact of yesterday on today and today on tomorrow.