A Separation

Nader and Simin, a middle class Iranian couple with an eleven year old daughter named Termeh, are on the verge of divorce. They love each other, but Simin, with exit visas for the family only good for the next forty days, wants to leave Iran permanently to a better life especially for Termeh. Nader, however, refuses to go as his father suffers from Alzheimer's and Nader will not leave him behind despite he probably not knowing who Nader is most of the time. As such, Simin moves out of their home and back in with her own parents. Termeh, however, stays with her father as she sees this action as a way to bring her parents back together. As Nader's father requires around the clock supervision, Nader, on a suggestion from Simin about a family member of an acquaintance, hires a man named Hojjat to be his father's caregiver when he's at work during the day. However, on Hojjat's first day in this position, he can't make it. Instead, Hojjat's wife, Razieh, with their infant daughter Somayeh, shows up to do the work as they desperately need the money. A few days in with Razieh having so far done all the work for an absent Hojjat, an incident occurs between Nader and Razieh, the results from which threaten both their standing in the community. With their respective spouses and children among others thrown into the mix, each individual has made up his or her mind about what is the best thing to do for his or herself, which is often at cross purposes to the others. These decisions take into consideration justice, humanity and/or individual well-being.