The daring, intelligently devised drama sets the story of one family’s loss into the larger mosaic of Israeli history and culture. Both specific and universal—and marbled with humor—it boldly uses a family drama told in three sequences to tackle fate and coincidence, guilt and forgiveness, happiness and grieving, the Holocaust and the Israel Defense Forces. When something goes terribly wrong at their soldier son’s desolate army outpost, married couple Michael and Dafna struggle to cope with the news. Using the structure of a Greek tragedy, writer/director Samuel Maoz explores the gap between the things we control and those we don’t. And as in his previous film, Lebanon, he continues to investigate—in an intensive manner that combines criticism and compassion—the human dynamic created in a closed unit. Considered cinematography mirrors and comments on the characters and their struggles, bringing new visual style and insight to each piece of this three-part drama. Winner: Silver Lion, 2017, Venice; eight Israeli Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor

In competition for the FIPRESCI Award.