Round Trip

Very well done in a gritty, low-budget verité style, with compelling non-actorly acting. Anat Waxman is a palpable force as the likable-unlikable main character. The sense of urban grit and oppressively limited choices (as much by character as socio-economics) is pervasive. The children come across as very natural, and radiate different personalities in the background through limited exposure. Particularly gnawing is the poisonous mother-daughter relationship, which goes well beyond overt conflict. The disappointment is that the plot-closing twist induces a resolution that is oddly neat and rather jangles with the whole design of the film, as if the filmmakers themselves couldn't quite face up to it all.