Review: Spanish drama Everybody Knows is a delectable mystery

There is a huge array of options at cinemas right now with nine new films hitting cinemas this weekend.

Along with the highly recommended documentary on Celia Lashlie, there is a Spanish drama called Everybody Knows.

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have starred in nine films together and are now married in the real world but here they instead play former lovers Laura and Paco.

Laura's now married and living in Argentina. She returns home to the small Spanish town she grew up in with her teenage daughter and son in tow.

Her sister is getting married. It's time for the family to celebrate.

The celebrations don't last long. Laura's daughter disappears and soon a ransom is demanded in return for her life.

The cracks and crevices of the family, the village and their past are quickly exposed. The story cleverly only lets us see what it wants us to see, pitching the who and the why back and forth most intriguingly with an underbelly of fear and resentment nicely underpinning the narrative.

There is something about a story which peels back the layers so gently that really gets under the skin and when it's the secrets and lies of a whodunit - this is even more delectable. 

Cruz and Bardem are obviously stand outs but the entire support cast are excellent. 

4 stars.