The Other Story

This is the story of 2 families. The psychiatrist family daughter Anat has followed her musician boyfriend into Orthodox Judaism, and will soon marry. Grandfather Shlomo and mother Tali are desperate to stop the marriage, and get "abandoned her" father Yonatan to come back from the U.S. to help. Meanwhile, Shlomo's few remaining clients include a divorcing couple with a young son caught in a custody battle, with the mother having joined a feminist pagan circle and insisting on bringing her son to its rituals. Eventually, Anat is recruited to join the rituals as an observer, to determine if they are dangerous to the boy. As Yonatan discovers untruths about Anat's boyfriend, Anat has to decide if truth is the an absolute, highest value.

The overlapping family dynamics are intriguing, as well as the hidden motives of various characters. I am not usually into dysfunctional-family stories, but this is a thrilling standout.