- Sensibility: Very sensible, even given the extremes of the story.
- Cinematography: Beautifully shot for the most part. Some bad fire cgi near the beginning, but production design and sets are excellent.
- Energy: The film takes its time getting to an ending that we already know is coming. But this build works well, as the events lay the ground work for a growing call
to violence. The scenes with the American family feel a bit off, particularly the ones involving the Israeli leaders. A great performance from Saleh Bakri helps maintain
the tension throughout.
- Narrative: By far, the best part of the film is the story. We are provided a rare perspective in this film: the "terrorist" from the American's point of view.
The film takes us through the logic for holding an American hostage and details the suffering of the oppressed people and their reasons for resistance. The film tries to parallel
the suffering taking place in both families. This works for the most part, but the American family sometimes feels like a distraction relative to the Palestinian families.
- T-Points: The film received one bonus point for a brilliant ending where it is shown that the cycle of violence perpetuates itself.
Worth the watch for the story alone. The film does a great job of not coming off too biased, even with issues that are very relevant to the current political climate.
Number of Watches: 1
