The Past screening

This buzzy French-language drama—helmed by Asghar Farhadi, who directed the Oscar-winning A Separation—is fraught with his signature intricate tension. The Artist's Bérénice Bejo stars (you'll hardly recognize her), and already earned a Best Actress award for the role at this year's Cannes Festival. The film revolves around a love triangle: Bejo's leading lady is in the process of divorcing her husband, while living with her new lover, whose wife is in a coma after a suicide attempt. The Past opens Dec. 20 at Laemmle's Royal Theatre, and on Jan. 17 at the Playhouse 7 and Town Center 5; tickets go on sale Dec. 17.