The Other Son
Director: Lorraine Levy
Cast: Emmanuelle Devos, Pascal Elbe, Jules Sitruk, Mehdi Dehbi, Areen Omari, Khalifa Natour, Mahmud Shalaby.
Rating: (M)
4 stars (out of 5)
Two sets of parents dealing with the news that their teenagers were swapped at birth is not a new plot device, but when you make one family Israeli and one Palestinian, that dynamic changes completely.
With French backing, cast and crew, The Other Son takes a fresh angle on the hopeless relationship, one that fortunately doesn't appear encumbered by ideological roadblocks.
Joseph (Jules Sitruk) is a music-loving teenager who likes hanging out on the Tel Aviv beach with his mates.
When enlisting for his compulsory military service, Joseph's blood test reveals that he cannot be biologically connected to his parents. But, on discovering that he is actually a Palestinian from the West Bank, everything he and his family believe and hold dear starts to crumble.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the barrier, the Al Bezaaz family confront their own nightmare scenario: they have raised a Jewish child. In some of the most uncomfortable but beautifully nuanced interactions, the two families attempt to make sense of the situation.
With both fathers belligerently resorting to the bitterness synonymous with the tit-for-tat politics of the region, it's the boys who find answers.
Confronting arguments of nature versus nurture, Jew versus Arab and hate versus love,
The Other Son is skilfully paced and wonderfully acted.
Best thing: The whole cast; every performance is brilliant.
Worst thing: The ending.
See it with: Anyone curious about the lives of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians.
