"Laura and her two children travel from Argentina to Spain to attend her sister's wedding. The joyful reunion soon turns tragic when her older daughter gets kidnapped -- revealing a dark web of hidden secrets."
Everybody Knows is supposedly classified as a drama/thriller, but I disagree with that. There is no successfully applied thriller element to this film. I'm not sure why there are so many slow-burn "thrillers" this year; I'm going to just call it a drama. While an intriguing premise, Everybody Knows has awfully slow pacing and directing that places more emphasis on the story arc that involves the "dark secrets" than the actual kidnapping.
This is a Spanish-language film, and you can't help but enjoy when you get to see Javier Barden and Penélope Cruz conversing in their native tongue (or so assume seeing as they are both Spanish). Such a simple little thing as the language that the film is shot in, does so much to add legitimacy to the storyline and location. More impressive knowing that the director, Asghar Farhadi, is Iranian and did not speak Spanish, but spent two years in Spain acquainting himself with the language.
This is a family-based plot, and with so many family members and different generations that have a rich history in the area, there is a lot of strong emotional connections and dramas associated with that. As such, there is a lot of relatable scenarios and content for the audience. The main issue with it is that this relatability combined with the films focus on it, draws you away from the primary premise of the film. No matter how well relationships and events are portrayed, the reality is that the main premise that is meant to provide the thriller element, is actively pushed aside, and you can't help but feel dissatisfied with the outcome of the film, regardless.
If we ignore that kidnapping plotline, the drama is layered on very thick. As the situation takes longer to reach any kind of resolution, we get to see the shit in how each character reacts. We start the film being fed almost a false flag operation. Character development shows only the mask that they wish to be shown, but as tempers flare and the risks heighten, the facades are slowly dropped one by one and each character transitions as they reveal their true feelings. It's such a strong emotive set of performances that is accentuated by a complete lack of film score.
As far as endings go, Everybody Knows was able to pull the rabbit out of the hat and give a conclusion that felt earned. Unfortunately, the film did not end there and instead continued for another scene. I understand the point of the scene, but it left the film ending on a weak point. It either needed to lose that last scene altogether or continue further and show us the consequences of the plot, which in my opinion really would have been far superior to what we had been shown in the film itself.
The sets were great, and the cast quite convincing in their roles. The environments were consistent and you really get that Spanish vibe from the greenery and the almost retro-vintage colour grading. But the script was just too non-committal to keep me engaged.
Everybody Knows is a great visual display of a family struggling to not tear itself apart under pressure. The script, on the other hand, was inconsistent and the whole kidnapping arc proved to be unnecessary for the dramatic subplot that drove the film in the end.