Everybody Knows

2018 ‘Todos lo saben’ Directed by Asghar Farhadi

Who did it?

Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her Argentinian husband and children. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open.

Penélope Cruz Javier Bardem Ricardo Darín Bárbara Lennie Inma Cuesta Elvira Mínguez Eduard Fernández Ramón Barea Sara Sálamo Carla Campra Roger Casamajor José Ángel Egido Sergio Castellanos Jaime Lorente Paco Pastor Gómez Iván Chavero Jordi Bosch Nella Rojas Mar del Corral Esteban Ciudad

132 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by davidehrlich ★★★½ 13

a layered, absorbing kidnapping (melo)drama about secrets, the specter of money, and how such things can curdle into the kind of resentment that’s starving for any chance to make itself real. Bardem rules, and the soapier elements worked for me on the strength of such a textured script. my fave Farhadi since A SEPARATION (though you should know i was iffy on THE SALESMAN and borderline loathed THE PAST).
Review by Allison M. 🌱 ★★★½ 11

AFI Fest - Film #10
As a thriller, it was taut. However, a steamy love story between Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem, it was not. "Everybody knows" is a phrase used in the beginning and we think we are let on in the secret early in the game. But the phrase "everybody knows" morphs into another animal and keeps everyone continually guessing.
Vegan alert:
-A bird craps on Javier Bardem and he cusses it out.
-A teenager plays with a dead bird in the bell tower.
-Eggs are served at a meal.
Review by Aaron Michael ★★★ 1

While not the reported mess that I thought it was going to be before the festival, Everybody Knows is another middling feature from director Asghar Farhadi. It's disappointing because he's capable of so much better (A Separation obviously, but also Fireworks Wednesday). A lot of this is just plain flat-footed; plot twists are shoehorned in, characterizations are uneven, and there's a distinct lack of focus as the story moves from each act to the next.
However, there was a lot that worked for me here. I'm a sucker for Farhadi's writing and the second hour delivers some of his best work. Penelope is fine, Javier is good, but Barbara Lennie - in a supporting role - steals the spotlight, delivering…
Review by Chris Simons ★★★½

2018 Ranked
This surprised me in regard to the emotional complexity. A well-paced acting showcase makes for an enjoyable watch. My first Farhadi a success... and it isn't even his best movie?? Sheesh.
My girlfriend has been in the mood for really engrossing movies as of late, and it has been a treat for me. And she has been thinking about them after the fact. I'm simping.
Review by franki_xcx ★★★½ 4

This might not be much about the movie itself, but just watching this at the Cannes Film Festival tonight was one of the happiest moments of my life. Knowing what I’ve been through and making it to the film festival of my dreams has made these past few days incredibly emotional, in the best possible way. When the lights went down and this film started I really just had this feeling in my chest that was so intense, like I wanted to scream so loudly in that moment just because I appreciate everything that has lead to this. I can’t wait for the next 10 days to just ruin me and collect my entire life.
Oh and this was very…
Review by Jacob ★★★★

SDiFF 2018: Movie #1
“You’re getting too involved.”
Farhadi has such a brilliant understanding of how secrets work. People can withhold the truth, and others can stop themselves from asking too many questions, but someone is going to put two and two together eventually. What it lacks in political critique, it makes up for in rich, rich melodrama. Even within the naturalistic direction, everything feels so extreme. We go from hugs and kisses to loud sobs so quickly that it’s almost jarring, this horrible night shocking the film into becoming something entirely new. The aimless of mystery is sure to frustrate some during the second act, but it felt necessary in depicting how fearful all these characters were to discover…
Review by 🌈 adrian ★★★★

Solidifies both Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz as two of my favourite working actors today — best ensemble cast in recent memory, and I truly believe Javier deserved recognition for his performance.
Review by Jak-Luke Sharp ★★★★

Universal + FocusFeatures. Cinema
1.85:1
Color
Codex
15
“It's time that gives character, from personality to wine”
Todos lo saben (Everybody Knows) is an impacting emotionally distressing thriller with a superb central performance from Penélope Cruz, perhaps her best since the collaborative effort with cinematic muse Pedro Almodóvar on Los abrazos rotos. Farhadi’s film is a haunting, atmospheric and daunting tension wrapped story in a brittle and dark intensity.
80

FULL REVIEW AT FILM INQUIRY
Review by javi ★★★

well yeah, it’s entertaining, well acted (but all of these masterful actors have been so much better!) and it keeps you guessing 'til the end, but the start and ending - the third act, not the last, powerful scene itself - are a near-disaster and the good/decent rest of the film can’t make for more than a mediocre melodrama that at times feels as the worst cable tv show, the only thing I can praise are Cruz and Lennie's performances: tho they aren’t even great, and the creation of false tension through the clever editing of all its really short scenes; probably the longest one goes on for three minutes
such a disappointing, strange film.
Review by CinemaClown ★★★

From the Academy Award-winning writer-director of A Separation & The Salesman, Everybody Knows brings Asghar Farhadi’s streak of five consecutive masterpieces to a sudden halt, and is an unexpectedly underwhelming feature from the renowned Persian filmmaker that fails to keep us riveted the way his finest works have done in the past.
Set in a small Spanish town, the story of Everybody Knows (also known as Todos lo saben) concerns Laura who returns to her hometown with her two children to attend her sister’s wedding. But an upsetting incident at the joyful event changes the whole festive scenario and in the days that follow, tensions flare, family issues surface, and hidden secrets are revealed.
Written & directed by Asghar Farhadi (also known…
Review by 🌈 adrian ★★★★

Everything here is beautiful: the cinematography, Penélope and Javier’s spectacular performances, the lighting and colours and Spanish countryside set pieces.
Thrilling, slow-burning family dramas have always been my preferred meal; similar dishes include Villeneuve’s Prisoners, or his superior Incendies.
Farhadi’s Everybody Knows joins the ranks of those entrées - his direction oozes personality and culture, and your senses will feel shot with every twist and turn.
Review by Chadwin ★★★

This is the second movie I’ve seen in a row that people have walked out of. This time I’m just assuming the two old people in the theatre hadn’t expected it to be in Spanish and they couldn’t handle it. They didn’t even last 15 minutes.
Farhadi knows how to do drama, but I can’t help but feel that sometimes mysteries aren’t his strong suit.
My least favorite of his films so far, but I still liked it.

Recent reviews

Review by Gary Ingrey ★★★★½

This is really rather good. A family melodrama with a mystery thriller at its heart.
Set in a small Spanish town the home of Laura (Penélope Cruz) who returns from Argentina where she now lives with her husband, Alejandro (Ricardo Darín). It's for her sister's wedding and whilst Alejandro has remained in Argentina she is accompanied by her two children teenager Irene (Carla Campra) and young Diego (Iván Chavero). During the festivities Irene is kidnapped and a massive ransom is demanded. Distraught Laura turns to Paco (Javier Bardem) a past lover who's heart she broke when she left Spain years before.
He tries to help to find Irene but the mystery opens old wounds amongst the family and their neighbours.…
Review by Rachlovesfilms ★★★★

Worth the annoyance of reading subtitles 👌🏾 It's not "steamy," as previously labeled, it's a story about secrets.
Review by KellyKonya ★★★★★

This is one of my favorite films and I get confused by all the critiques of it. The family histories in this are SO substantive; I only wish we could spend time with Laura and Paco when they’re young (but maybe that’s what Jamón is for). This also might be my favorite performance by Bardem - as the Yorker says, “...shaggy, noble, rooted, not entirely civilized, and still Cruz-crazy after all these years.”
Review by axterixn ★★

Darín se hace esperar más que la vacuna contra el covid y cuando aparece es intrascendecia pura. La tuve que ver sin subtitulos y fue un tiro en los huevos. Difícilmente vea algo peor en este 2020. Mis dos estrellas son para los trabajadores que no influyeron a ninguna escala en las decisiones finales del film.
Review by Bangun Setiawan ★★★★

Actually, Money Heist is a spin-off of Everybody Knows! It tell that Jaime Lorente 'aka' Denver in Money Heist life background! Thats why he soo criminal and hired by Professor 😌
Asghar Farhadi can predict! 😁 nice sir!
Btw Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardiem performances top notch in here!!
Review by Luis Ramírez ★★★½

Mucha plática y poca trama!
Review by Chris Simons ★★★½

2018 Ranked
This surprised me in regard to the emotional complexity. A well-paced acting showcase makes for an enjoyable watch. My first Farhadi a success... and it isn't even his best movie?? Sheesh.
My girlfriend has been in the mood for really engrossing movies as of late, and it has been a treat for me. And she has been thinking about them after the fact. I'm simping.
Review by alexie ★★★★

Quand j’y pense un film de farhadi avec penelope cruz et barbara lennie... ma culture
Review by ccelletti ★★★★

Have no idea why this movie seemed to just come and go. It’s not top tier Farhadi, but so what?
Review by Rocio ★★★

El guión es muy fallido, pareciera que no tiene estructura y en los primeros 40 minutos no se entiende a dónde va. Luego de esa larga e innecesaria introducción a la historia, pareciera que se iba a convertir en un thriller pero el suspenso es inexistente durante todo el metraje, además de eso la historia está mal contada, no existe precisión.
La película no es mala, pero si es muy decepcionante, esperaba mas por el director y el elenco pero hay que destacar las interpretaciones, que son lo único que me mantuvo con ganas de verla hasta el final, sobre todo Penelope Cruz y Javier Bardem.
Review by sue ★★★

20 minutes of movie and you’ll appreciate an inconsistent script: the relationship between the young ones is forced. i know they aren’t the important ones in that aspect, but it’s something that really annoys me.
It’s a long movie. that’s not bad, i’m a person who loves this type of things. You can see how their despair grows. The fact of Penelope Cruz changing her accent depending of who she talks to... kinda annoys me again. Her husband is Argentine and she’s a Spanish woman from a small town, so she talks with them in a “neutral” Spanish? but then with him in Argentine. idk, i’m a person who switchs her accents a lot but in this moments are pretty weird.
you ain’t gonna see it coming tho, but again it’s pretty... forced.
Review by rabello_ ★★★★

Este filme não é recomendável para pessoas muito ansiosas para descobrir a história de filmes, pois seus primeiros 40 minutos focam em apresentação de personagens, você fica pensando: "Esse filme não vai começar?". Quando o filme mostra sua real história, ele não para mais e consegue te segurar na cadeira com maestria, pois o diretor consegue fazer com que todos pareçam culpados pelo crime. Esse filme me deixou para baixo pois seu final é bem triste. Os atores estão muito bem, destaque para os personagens: Paco, interpretado pelo sempre incrível Javier Bardem, e Laura, interpreta pela atriz Penélope Cruz que soube entregar uma mãe que fará de tudo para salvar sua filha.