Out in the Dark

Nimr lives in the West Bank and is doing a postgraduate degree in Tel Aviv; he has a permit and crosses the checkpoint every day. One night he meets Roy at a bar. Roy is a lawyer, Israeli, from a well off family. A relationship begins. Their difficulties differ: Roy hesitates to tell his family, while Nimr can tell neither his family nor those around him and knows what would happen if he did. Then his permit is cancelled. The security service wants something from him: if he wants to stay, he will give information. Michael Mayer writes and directs. Nicholas Jacob plays Nimr and Michael Aloni plays Roy. It is an Israeli production. The matter it treats is pressure from two sides; the narrative shows no side as a safe place. The tension is built on permits and papers; daily life goes on under bureaucratic control. The film was shown at festivals and caused argument in both communities. The narrative offers no romantic resolution; the relationship does not work as a way out. The checkpoint scenes are shown in detail and waiting sets the rhythm. Its limit is the script; some sections come close to genre shape and the last part speeds up. Who it is for: viewers who like relationship drama on political ground. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, the ending without hope, and the narrative may be found partisan.