Parallel Tales

Parallel Tales (2026)



Histoires parallèles

5.7 2026 139 min Belgium, France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, United States of America

Director: Asghar Farhadi

Cast: Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney, Adam Bessa

Drama Mystery Thriller
A novelist desperate for creative spark turns her telescope on the neighbors across the street, turning their private lives into secret story fodder. When she brings young Adam on board to assist with her daily tasks, she never expects him to shatter her quiet world and rewrite her entire narrative. Before long, the fiction she’s been weaving grows wilder than anyone’s truth—and reality can’t keep up.

More About This Film

Parallel Tales is a French-language drama from Asghar Farhadi about Sylvie, a novelist who spies on people living across from her apartment while searching for material for a new book. After she employs a young helper named Adam, the imagined stories she has created begin to interfere with the lives of the people who inspired them.

Set in contemporary Paris, the film explores voyeurism, authorship, perception and the uncertain border between fiction and reality. Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel and Pierre Niney form the central ensemble, with the narrative repeatedly shifting perspective as different versions of events emerge.

  • Directed and co-written by Asghar Farhadi.
  • It is Farhadi's tenth feature film.
  • The screenplay was co-written with Saeed Farhadi.
  • Loosely inspired by Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog VI and A Short Film About Love.
  • Selected for the main competition at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival.

Where to Watch

Parallel Tales has a major European festival and theatrical release, with digital availability expanding across territories.