Parallel Tales

What it’s about

Sylvie, a novelist living alone, watches her neighbours through a telescope and transforms their lives into a novel, adding drama, passion, jealousy, and betrayal. She hires Adam to help with her daily routine, unaware that he will turn her life and work upside down. Adam falls for Nita, who lives opposite, and to impress her, he copies Sylvie's manuscript and passes it off as his own. The line between fiction and reality erodes, and the real relationships among the prototypes turn out to be nothing like what Sylvie imagined.

What hooks you

Asghar Farhadi directs Isabelle Huppert as Sylvie, with Virginie Efira in a dual role as Nita and Anna, and Vincent Cassel as Pierre and Nicolas. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Who it’s for

It is worth a look for anyone who enjoys slow-burning psychological tension where observation turns into obsession and the boundary between art and life dissolves.