Asghar Farhadi , the Iranian master whose films have twice won the best international feature Oscar (2011’s A Separation and 2016’s The Salesman ) and twice won prizes at the Cannes Film Festival ( The Salesman and 2021’s A Hero ), premiered his latest work, Parallel Tales , at Cannes’ Grand Théâtre Lumière on Thursday night.

The French-language drama, which is playing in competition at this year’s fest, was greeted with a five-minute standing ovation — which is, by Cannes standards, polite but not especially enthusiastic.

Adapted by Farhadi and his brother, Saeed, from a chapter of Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 10-part project for Polish television, Dekalog (1989-1990), Parallel Tales is a study in voyeurism and the sometimes blurry line between fantasy and reality.…