The Flood

Yoni, thirteen and preparing for his bar mitzvah, is small and slight; he is mocked at school, and at home his parents are close to separating. Then Tomer, his autistic older brother, who has lived in an institution for years, comes home. Suddenly Yoni has to prepare for both the ceremony and his brother. The film is not interested in disability. It is interested in a family carrying a secret: Tomer was kept away for years and Yoni has never mentioned him at school. His return spills all the household's lies at once. The form is small: interiors, the school, the synagogue and the hot light of provincial Israel. The camera stays at Yoni's height. Guy Nattiv directed, expanding a short he had made earlier. He would later win an Academy Award in the short film category for Skin. Ronit Elkabetz plays the mother, Tzahi Grad the father and Yoav Rotman plays Yoni. Elkabetz was among the best-known figures in Israeli cinema. Who it is for: viewers who like coming-of-age drama told from inside a family, and Israeli cinema. Who it is not for: anyone expecting resolution. The film closes nothing and leaves the family exactly where it is.