Set in contemporary Iran, a middle-class, hardworking family is about to disintegrate. Simin tells her husband Nader  she wants to go to a country with more opportunities and freedom. Nader refuses to go because he’s committed to caring for his father, who has Alzheimers. Furthermore, Nader wants his teenage daughter Termeh to stay in Iran and live with him. Simin sues for divorce. The court sides with the husband and Simin moves out to live with her family. With Termeh living with him, and no wife to care for her and his father, Nader hires Razieh to help. Nader then discovers that Razieh has been neglecting his father. He asks Razieh to leave. She refuses unless she gets paid. Nader pusher her, she falls, and is taken to the hospital. Nader finds out that Razieh was pregnant when she fell and suffered a miscarriage. Under Iranian law, Nader could be convicted for murder. New evidence emerges in the court as to the cause for the miscarriage. Meanwhile, the divorce between Simin and Nader reaches a conclusion. The judge now asks Termeh with whom she would prefer living: her father or her mother. Termeh is torn over her heartbreaking situation.