Iranian auteur, Asghar Farhadi, has enjoyed a great reputation in the film world, earning two Oscars during his time in the field. Now, he will have another honor, as he’s reportedly going to kick off the upcoming 2018 Cannes Film Festival with his heavily-psychological film Everybody Knows, giving audience a wild thriller. The Spanish-language film, known locally as Todos Lo Saben, will also be trailblazing the film festival territory: it’s the second of its language to open the acclaimed festival, with 2004’s Bad Education, directed by Pedro Almodovar, to be the first film to break down the Cannes premiere barrier. Argentinian icon Ricardo Darin will also be acting in the film, along with Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. Variety was first to break the news.
Everybody Knows, with a script penned by Farhadi, centers around a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires. During the film, she soon makes her way back to her hometown in a small town outside of Madrid, accompanied by her Argentinian husband and children. The trip, however, goes awry and unexpected events force true colors to show and secrets to become unveiled.
The talented Farhadi, who’s had two earlier films in contention for the Palm D’Or at Cannes (first The Past all the way back in 2013 and then The Salesman three years later), has never had the honor of opening the festival with one of his films, which is obviously changing now. The Salesman awarded him the festival’s best screenplay honors while also begetting recognition from the Academy; he later took home the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
Todos Lo Saben owes a great deal of its production credits to Alexandre Mallet-Guy. He has collaborated with twice before Farhadi (The Past, The Salesman), making this their third film together. His company, Memento, will release the film the next day after it is first revealed in Cannes, making it accessible in France starting on May 9th. As of yet, there is no clear owner of the North American distribution rights for the movie.