I saw the world premiere of this film at the Rotterdam film festival 2015 (IFFR), where it was part of the section Bright Future – Premieres. The plot is very original, and it had a very unexpected ending too. For that reason alone, I would have added the keyword Thriller to the list of categories this film belongs to. From the outset it looks more like a drama, however, when husband Rami does not return after walking the dog, without a message or any other clue about his whereabouts or motives. His wife Shir calls several people who may know more. She also receives a series of visitors, including of course the police. Neither of these visitors is really helpful.
What we witness is all contained within a single apartment, and covers the evening and most of the night after the disappearance. The tension what might have happened was maintained throughout. Also, the actors carry the proceedings performing very well. The fact that it all happens in a single apartment, is soon forgotten when things get moving. The variety of visitors also takes care that there are no boring moments during the 92 minutes running time this movie takes. In the finale when the plot unravels, all the things happening before fall in place, in other words a well constructed script.
In the final Q&A the director mentioned interesting facts, and I scribbled down most of them. The whole movie is shot in 6 days and on a very low budget. There has been only one rehearsal, albeit a long and intensive one. For most scenes a single shot proved sufficient. Female characters were all very strong, contrary to the men who are much weaker on average. The latter was not intentional but merely an observation after the fact. Anyway, a strong leading lady was planned all along. The structure of the film depends on distinct scenes each time someone enters/exits the apartment, which was setup as such from the initial drawing board, which the director considers a very important aspect of this film. (*** warning *** possible spoiler ahead ***) The first draft version had an ending that was very different. Someone died in there, unlike the version we've just seen. Subsequent versions proved that this story does not need someone to die. In retrospect, the director remains convinced this is the better ending.
What we witness is all contained within a single apartment, and covers the evening and most of the night after the disappearance. The tension what might have happened was maintained throughout. Also, the actors carry the proceedings performing very well. The fact that it all happens in a single apartment, is soon forgotten when things get moving. The variety of visitors also takes care that there are no boring moments during the 92 minutes running time this movie takes. In the finale when the plot unravels, all the things happening before fall in place, in other words a well constructed script.
In the final Q&A the director mentioned interesting facts, and I scribbled down most of them. The whole movie is shot in 6 days and on a very low budget. There has been only one rehearsal, albeit a long and intensive one. For most scenes a single shot proved sufficient. Female characters were all very strong, contrary to the men who are much weaker on average. The latter was not intentional but merely an observation after the fact. Anyway, a strong leading lady was planned all along. The structure of the film depends on distinct scenes each time someone enters/exits the apartment, which was setup as such from the initial drawing board, which the director considers a very important aspect of this film. (*** warning *** possible spoiler ahead ***) The first draft version had an ending that was very different. Someone died in there, unlike the version we've just seen. Subsequent versions proved that this story does not need someone to die. In retrospect, the director remains convinced this is the better ending.