Overview
A haunting exploration of past choices and their consequences unfolds in the heart of Paris.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Dense
- Violence
- Mild
- melancholic
- tense
- intimate
- quiet evening
- serious movie night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised Farhadi's finely layered writing, sensitive direction, and powerful ensemble performances in an emotionally demanding domestic drama.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Ahmad's return exposes overlapping secrets involving Marie, Lucie, Samir, and Samir's comatose wife, with the truth disclosed incrementally.
The family's conflicts connect divorce, depression, past affairs, and the coma through competing accusations and partial responsibility.
Lucie's deteriorating relationship with Marie and Fouad's exposure to the adults' crisis make childhood trauma central to the family conflict.
Parisian homes and a laundromat become intimate settings where divorce negotiations, secrets, and confrontations steadily intensify.
Films like The Past, and why
A Separation
layered family secrets, moral ambiguity, and emotionally tense domestic drama
Marriage Story
intimate relationship conflict, restrained realism, and psychologically complex family drama
Secrets & Lies
slow-burning domestic mystery, fractured relationships, and unresolved moral consequences
The Hunt
European family drama built around hidden trauma, guilt, and competing perspectives
Movie Details
- Director
- Asghar Farhadi
- Release Date
- 2013-05-17
- Runtime
- 130 min
- Rating
- 7.3 / 10 (638)
Cast
- Bérénice Bejo
- Ali Mosaffa
- Tahar Rahim
- Pauline Burlet
- Elyes Aguis
- Jeanne Jestin
- Sabrina Ouazani
- Babak Karimi
- Valéria Cavalli
- Aleksandra Klebanska
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Past about?
- An Iranian man's return to Paris for a divorce uncovers a volatile web of family secrets, guilt, and unresolved trauma.
- What is The Past like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Past as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as dense.
- Is The Past violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in The Past as mild.
- What did critics think of The Past?
- Critics broadly praised Farhadi's finely layered writing, sensitive direction, and powerful ensemble performances in an emotionally demanding domestic drama.
- Which films are like The Past?
- Films with a similar feel include A Separation, Marriage Story, Secrets & Lies, and The Hunt.
- How long is The Past?
- The Past runs 130 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Past?
- In United States, The Past is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home.
