Prolific auteur Michael Winterbottom (A Mighty Heart) uses Britain’s post-WWI administration of Palestine as a backdrop for this compelling historical romance. Based on real people and events, the film employs the fraught, cross-cultural relationship between a ranking member of the British Palestine Police Force and a young Jewish woman to explore the way extremism and violence push people apart, forcing them to choose sides.
By the 1930s, Palestine is a cauldron of unrest with the Arab and Jewish populations at each other’s throats. In response, the British increase their police presence, assigning new officer Geoffrey Morton (Harry Melling) to the Arab villages around Jenin, and fellow recruit Tom Wilkin (Douglas Booth) to undercover anti-terrorist work in the growing, modern Jewish city of Tel Aviv. Wilkin, who is mastering Hebrew, loves the city and its people, particularly journalist Shoshana Borochov (the terrific Irina Starshenbaum), a strong, independent-minded Russian émigré. –Alissa Simon
Content advisory: violence