The Dead of Jaffa (Ram Loevy, 2019): Israel

Reviewed by Diego Moreno. Viewed at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2020.

The Dead of Jaffa is an foreign drama film directed by Ram Loevy, who has been directing movies for many decades. The film is about the smuggling of three children into Israel since their mother deceased and father in jail permanently. Rita, who brings them into her house, hopes she can bond and hopefully become family to the children. Meanwhile, George, who lives in the house with her, discovers this and wants to bring the children in as he believes this will cause issues. Rita convinces George to let the children stay. Meanwhile, George is cast in an acting role for a film nearby, which is play a key part in the plot later on.

Pros:

• Opens interestingly with a graveyard and a shot of a skull, with narration that includes a moment of genuinely funny dark humor
• Strong acting by everyone, especially from Yussuf Abu-Warda
• Unique, interesting plot
• Very nice how the acting/filming subplot ties to the story in the final act
• Unexpected twist

Cons:

• Needed more focus on the smuggled children, especially the other two besides the rebellious one, who did get a little more story than them. They’re an important part of the plot and deserved more development and screen time
• Too much focus on the acting/filming subplot (despite it playing a huge role later on and creating a good twist), as if were the main plot of the movie