Cannes Review: EVERYBODY KNOWS: A Multi-Tasking Kidnap Drama One Sud Short Of Soap Opera

Asghar Farhadi is a director concerned with family discourse, and here this fascination takes the form of a soapy kidnap drama that never eases up on its conviction, even if the narrative goes a little slack. Shifting from the urban Iranian landscape of A Separation and The Salesman to the sun-soaked Spanish countryside, Everybody Knows begins in celebratory fashion: extended-family greetings transition to wedding day festivities, all gormless smiles and collective whooping.

We follow Laura and her former love interest, Paco, through proceedings (played by Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem respectively), though much of the first act is taken up by her daughter and kidnap victim, a spritely hotshot teenager named Irena (played with enough frivolous energy by Carla Campra that her absence is certainly, crushingly felt). When she’s inevitably stolen away – the twilight party atmosphere cut short by a power outage and the heavy storm of pathetic fallacy – Everybody Knows ’ plot transforms from operatic thrills to a procedural pseudo-detective drama that’s one sud short of soap opera.

Naff Narrative

The use of a cataclysmic event to peel back layers of latent extended family dynamics and class politics boasts shades of Caché, while the kidnap-based dramaturgy recalls a less-flashy Taken; or, in Cannes terms, if Taken is the silky black tie get-up, Everybody Knows is the person underneath, invested in traversing beyond surface level rather than settling solely for narrative.

Which is telling, considering how apathetic the actual narrative is; Cruz is mired in a thankless role that’s hardly defined beyond the inherent anguish at losing her daughter, and her lamentations – much like the rest of the cast’s – range from mildly absorbing to downright repetitive. Bardem, at least, is given a character arc of sorts, intensely watchable as a man caught in the middle of a plot twist (much-needed, if only to wake proceedings up from slumber).

Thematically, there’s more to chew on: Everybody Knows opens with images of the machinations of a clock tower; shortly afterwards, Bardem  ruminates on the difference between grapes and wine: time. And it’s no mere coincidence that Irena is the one who fiddles with the clock tower’s hands. For Everybody Knows is all about the process of time, and how deep-rooted resentment can fester and ferment into full-blown crime.

A Tangle of Themes

Similarly, the notion of the power of gossip comes into play (at one point, there’s even a misjudged title drop), and parallel takes on the ownership of both land and daughter. It’s a gaggle of ideas each fighting for attention, and so most of their incessant musings appear less as rich examinations of heady topics, and more as window-dressing.

They’re fascinating all the same: there’s much to unpick from the tangle of backstory revelations and thematically-dense conversations, and Farhadi himself reasons that these are less focal points and more questions asked of the audience – but one wishes, then, that he would have found something more substantial to justify his film’s laborious runtime. Time may be a huge part of Everybody Knows , but the only instances in which its presence is truly felt is when first-act momentum gives way to bouts of a glacially-paced narrative repeating itself.

Formally, Farhadi opts for his signature workmanlike approach, but this is pierced in sporadic, glorious bursts of foreboding drone footage. The implication here is the traditional idyllic Spanish precinct is being reeled into the contemporary through electronic gizmos; again, the concept of time is given a chance to rise to the forefront. But this cinematic flourish is sparse, too sparse to resonate, really, and so once again the attention is drawn back to the plodding narrative.

Conclusion: Everybody Knows

The resolution of the kidnapping is carried out in almost a blasé manner: Farhadi is clever to recognise that, in choosing such a well-worn plot point, the way it actually ends is hardly relevant: how its characters react to that plot point, on the other hand, makes all the difference. Which makes the final, lingering shot all the more telling, as this family moves on from one victim to another – or as the grapes slowly begin to ferment.

Everybody Knows is not a bad film – the actors are too committed, the dialogue too composed for a B-grade narrative to pose an insurmountable threat. But this is a melodrama that takes itself too seriously – one that pulls in each and every direction to try and find some thematic footing, and ends up not saying too much about anything. Time is a potent psychological weapon, and Farhadi’s latest makes that clear; but as the narrative sleepwalks into oblivion, it’s  a weapon that gradually, snoozily, turns to face us.

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Everybody Knows has no US or UK release date yet. For international release dates, click here.