Pointless and boring. Expected more from the director of "Separatiion". "Past" wasn't bad also, but these "Salesman" and "About Elli" far from good movie maker.

This film is incredible. It throws you into this group of friends that you immediately feel part of and the fast pace makes it even more exciting without even having to go with a big plot. The movie really takes it time to tell this story without rushing it and the non-chalant acting fits the film perfectly, it's quite intriguing.The camera movements give the film the action to prevent it from being boring and it achieves this perfectly. You can quite lose yourself while watching the movie.A simple plot and the excellent making of the film complement each other and is definitely a must-see for fans of great dialogues and fellow aestheticians.

ABOUT ELLY is an interesting and highly watchable Iranian film that's been marketed as a mystery type thriller, although in fact it's a piece of relevant and timely social commentary. The storyline is about a group of young people - friends, family, and offspring - who gather together for a weekend of fun at a beach house. However, disaster strikes when a child is washed into the sea and one of the women goes missing. The first thing that strikes the viewer is that ABOUT ELLY is a very well made film. The cinematography is excellent with lots of beautiful shots both of scenery and actors. The acting is of a realistic standard and despite the drama of the storyline there's never any melodrama or over the top emoting going on.Writer/director Asghar Farhadi uses the film's narrative to explore questions of what it means to be young and carefree in modern-day Iran. In particular, gender relationships are explored in detail, particularly when it comes to permissiveness and the like, and to what extent a young woman has freedom in society to do as she wishes. It's all highly interesting, giving western audiences a chance to find out something about what a little-known country is really like for the people living there.

2010:Reading a leaflet from a local art house cinema,I was disappointed to find that I had just missed a screening of an Iran New Wave (INW) Thriller. Looking for the movie on DVD,the only result that turned up was one without English subtitles.2016:Finally getting the chance to see Asghar Farhadi's work in the haunting Drama The Past,I was thrilled to discover that the BBC were to show one of his earlier works,which led to me getting set to at last meet Elly.The plot:Going on a three day holiday,school friends/ couples Sepideh,Amir, Shohreh, Peyman, Nazy and Nazy's husband Manuchehr decide to take their children along on the trip. Aware that the recently divorced Ahmad if flying in from Germany to join them on the break, Sepideh pushes her daughters kindergarten teacher Elly to join them,in the hope that she will woo Ahmad. Arriving at the beach villa,the gang find the place to have no phone reception and to be in the middle of nowhere. Wanting to keep things secret,Elly travels to town and calls her mum to lie about what's taking place.Fearful that Elly could run off early, Sepideh hides her bags. Wanting to spend some time on their own,the gang ask Elly to look after the kids on the beach.Relaxing,the gang is shaken by the scream of a child floating away on the sea,and the discovery that Elly has disappeared into thin air.View on the film:Keeping what awaits them at bay,co-writer/(along with Azad Jafarian) directing auteur Asghar Farhadi & cinematographer Hossein Jafarian give the opening 45 minutes a laid-back attitude,where the camera drifts along to snippets of casual dialogue.Riding the waves of dread with INW tracking shots cracking over the ocean, Farhadi breaks the calm with an atmosphere running on high anxiety,as stylish camera moves sweep the ocean for any sight of Elly. Making a sandcastle for his major visual themes, Farhadi lays the villa bare,subtly matching the bare soul of each guest,caught in draining close-ups and clipped dialogue out of earshot, capturing the emotional,darkly thrilling waves.Initially looking like a nice holiday to the beach, the screenplay by Farhadi and Jafarian chips away at the calm and taps into the pure Noir terror,brilliantly bringing the fracturing state of each relationship to the surface. Finding no sign of Elly on the sea,the writers' strike a chilling mood with an expert deconstruction of Elly's disappearance leading to powerfully raw questions on treating words with a minimal value and the drastic measures people will take to keep a lie in place.Twisting Elly's arm to come along, Golshifteh Farahani gives a divesting performance as Sepideh,whose face is drawn by Farahani in lines of disperse,and a desperation to grasp any sign of hope. Flying in from Germany, Shahab Hosseini gives a magnificent performance as Ahmad,by Hosseini keeping the lingering sting from Ahmad's divorce very real,in a film about Elly.