Plan A – Film Review

What would you do? Picking up at the end of World War ll, Plan A follows Max (August Diehl), a survivor of the Holocaust wandering aimlessly searching for his wife and son. Through a series of random encounters, Max arrives in the care of Jewish Ally soldier, Michael (Michael Aloni). Presented with the option to …

Babi Yar. Context – Film Review | Cannes 2021

Sergey Loznitsa’s prodigious documentary meticulously reconstructs the months before and years after the Babi Yar massacre. The archival footage is incredibly restored but harrowing to witness. The extent of the horrific actions during WWII, orchestrated by Hitler and Nazi Germany, still baffle me to this day. I had never heard of their actions in Kiev …

Review – Betrayed

Set in Oslo during the events of World War ll, Betrayed follows the lives of the Jewish Braude family who must face the potential, and inevitable, realities of what a Nazi-occupied Norway will bring for their family. It’s important to note that this film is based on the true experiences of the Braude family, primarily …

JIFF 2021 Review – ‘Non Odiare (Thou Shalt Not Hate)’

Is it morally right to not help someone if they are a bad person? Director Mauro Mancini tries to answer this question, but limps around trying to find a satisfying answer. Simone Segre (Alessandro Gassmann) is a Jewish-Italian doctor with daddy issues who allows a hit and run victim to die after discovering he’s a …

Review – ‘The Vigil’

Set over the course of a single evening in Brooklyn’s Hassidic “Boro” Park neighborhood. Having lost his faith, Yakov (Dave Davis – Greyhound) isn’t eager to go back to the insular religious community he only recently fled. But when Reb Shulem (Menashe Lustig – Menashe), a rabbi and confidante, approaches Yakov after a support group …