Like driving circles on the motorway: there's a lot of movement but it doesn't really go anywhere.

Asghar Farhadi's neat ability to write tense, engaging scripts around family values, betrayal,tough decisions and social dynamics is on show again here. A Spanish woman who left her village home to live in Argentina returns for a wedding - and secrets spill out in the process.

On the face of it, the film is a classic thriller /drama/ whodunnit plot wise. But Farhadi's script means it not only brings in all the principle characters, but also some back story, some peripheral figures, and some nastiness too. All you can want from an intelligent film with a simple story.

Penelope Cruz steals the show as a terrified mother, but Javier Bardem and the rest of the cast aren't far behind. Pretty great performances.

Farhadi is a great director.

8/10

Aesthetically flawless and brilliantly acted, but too melodramatic and generic for me

More a dark psychological study of people under extreme pressure than the kidnapping thriller as which it's been marketed, the film examines what can happen when such pressure causes long-buried secrets to rise to the surface, how they can bring some together and tear others apart, often because of misunderstandings as to what is and what isn't common knowledge, with characters both underestimating and overestimating what others know about their lives. However, although beautifully shot and exceptionally well-acted, Todos is easily the weakest film in Farhadi's filmography. Whereas his previous work is elegant, nuanced, and perfectly formed, Todos clumsily falls back on clichéd genre tropes and heavy-handed melodramatic plotting, with the narrative hinging on the revelation of a secret so obvious, I'm not even sure you can call it a plot twist.

For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/Fzewp

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.

This is a film by the incredible Asghar Farhadi - he also directed A Separation and About Elly (and other well-regarded films that I haven't seen yet). I don't know if this film quite reaches the heights of those films but it is still very good. What I liked most about it is that the plot twist that happens near the beginning of the movie doesn't overshadow the underlying tensions that are boiling between the main characters. I would have loved to have known what happens in the next minute or two after the credits start to roll but I get why the film ended where it did.

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The unspoken emotions, the unsaid words and the undone actions deliver such powerful plot with rewording climax joined with mesmerizing performances from Penelope and Javier

It has Farhadi’ signature all over it, it's brilliant how he captures the messiness that bound to come with families and people’s irrational behavior to cope with their cultural values or boundaries

A Soap opera done right