2018 Films: #9. Disobedience

Saturday May 19th in Chicago. Sebastián Lelio directs and shares a writing credit for this film that's based on a novel by Naomi Alderman.

The film stars Rachel Weisz as Ronit Krushka, a photographer who returns to London after her father, a Torah scholar and legend in the community, passes away. Early on we get the feeling that Ronit was exiled from her community at some point. Upon arrival she links up with a childhood friend Dovid Kuperman (Alessandro Nivola) who was a student of Ronit's father. As they reminisce, it's revealed that Dovid married Esti (Rachel McAdams) and as kids the three were very close. We eventually see what it was that most likely got Ronit banished, she and Esti had a fling as kids. Ronit eventually gets asked to leave after her and Esti are spotted hooking up but they do eventually give in completely to their desires that sets an interesting ending.

The film received an 84% Rotten Tomatoes rating, which is fair. This is not a film for everyone. There's tension for sure but it's a slow burn. Ronit feels weird going back. When she arrives, people are courteous but uncomfortable around her. Lelio does a nice job of playing on that discomfort, the characters know what happened and what makes them uncomfortable around Ronit but the audience is left to wonder (although the trailer gives it away). The film has a run time of 114 minutes. On the outset that seems long but there was never a time when I felt bored and I can't think of an unnecessary scene that could've been cut. It's nicely paced.

For me, the conflict between duty and desire is the underlying theme in the picture. It's Esti that calls Ronit to come back for her father's funeral. Ronit comes back out of a sense of duty. Esti and Dovid's get married not because they're in love but because getting married is what they're supposed to do. They do care for each other but the marriage seems loveless. In the end, Dovid and Esti's marriage is over. Dovid was set to replace Ronit's father but he publicly turns down the post and releases his Esti (per custom) from the marriage. His desire overcomes his duty. He loves her enough to want to see her happy and so he frees her. Esti loses her job and does not go back with Ronit, she forsakes her desire to be with Ronit knowing that she would not truly be free. Esti and Dovid's lives are more or less in shambles but they seemed okay with it. Ronit gets to pick her life back up in New York. It ends badly, in varying degrees, for everyone (Esti clearly loses the most). That's the way life works sometimes.