Simin desperately wants to leave Iran with Nader, her husband of 14 years, and their daughter, Termeh. Nader, however, is concerned for his elderly father, who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease. Simin files for divorce, but the family court judges the couple’s problems insufficient to warrant divorce and rejects Simin’s application. A Separation 2011 full
Simin moves back in with her parents but Termeh decides to stay with her father. Nader hires Razieh, a deeply religious woman from a poor suburb of Tehran, to take care of his father while he is at work. Her family is financially dependent on the job, and she takes her young daughter, Somayeh, with her. Razieh quickly becomes overwhelmed by taking care of Nader’s father, which is physically and emotionally demanding, especially as she is four months pregnant. One day, Razieh asks her daughter to help by taking the trash outside, but the bag bursts on the stairs. Razieh mops it up, but discovers that Nader’s father has disappeared. Alarmed, Razieh runs down the street after him.
The next day, Nader and Termeh return to discover her grandfather lying unconscious on the floor in his bedroom, tied to the bed. Razieh and Somayeh are nowhere to be found. When they return, Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father and stealing money (unbeknownst to Nader, Simin used the money to pay movers). When she refuses to leave until he pays her, he pushes Razieh out of the apartment. She falls on the stairwell outside. Hodjat’s sister later calls Simin to inform her that Razieh is in the hospital. Nader and Simin go to the hospital, where they encounter her husband, Hodjat, and learn she has suffered a miscarriage.
If it is proven that Nader knew of Razieh’s pregnancy and caused the miscarriage, he could be sentenced for murder. In front of a criminal judge, Nader accuses Razieh of neglecting his father, while the hot-headed and aggressive Hodjat physically confronts Nader on several occasions. He yells at Termeh’s teacher Mrs Ghahraei, who was tutoring her at the flat, after she gives a statement in support of Nader.