Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Tom Nesher
Starring: Lia Elalouf, Darya Rosenn, Netta Garti, Jacob Zada Daniel, Shlomi Shaban,
Ido Tako
Were it not for current geopolitics, you might make a case for
writer/director Tom Nesher's feature debut Come Closer introducing the world to a future global star in its lead
actress Lia Elalouf. She delivers one of the most remarkable
debut performances of the past couple of decades and oozes that
indefinable star quality that so few performers are blessed with. And it
doesn't hurt that she could be mistaken for Dua Lipa's hotter sister.
Unfortunately for Elalouf, and indeed for global audiences, it's unlikely
any Hollywood casting directors will want the negative press of working
with an Israeli actress at this moment.
Elalouf plays Eden, a hard-partying Tel Aviv It Girl who seems to have no
worries in life and no job to get in the way of her socialising. She's the
sort of dangerously attractive young woman any young man, and a lot of
young women, would throw themselves in front of a train for. Aside from
her parents' divorce, it doesn't seem as if Eden has ever had any trouble
in her life. That all changes when her slightly younger brother Nati (Ido Tako) sneaks away from the surprise beach birthday party Eden threw for him,
only to be hit by a car, resulting in his subsequent death in
hospital.
At the funeral Eden notices a grieving teenage girl whom she doesn't
recognise; nor can any of her friends identify her. Before Eden can
inquire further, the young girl departs. Later Eden goes through her
brother's room and finds nude sketches of the same girl, along with a love
note signed by a "Maya". Trawling through Nati's Facebook friends, Eden
tracks down the mysterious Maya (Daria Rosen) at the bowling alley
where she works. Maya is mortified and tries to avoid a confrontation but
Eden is waiting outside when her shift ends. At first Eden is
contemptuous, filled with rage at Maya for sharing and in her eyes,
dividing, the love she had for her brother, and at Nati for keeping a
secret from her. But Eden's somewhat unstable behaviour gives us clues as
to why her brother might have kept Maya's existence a secret.
Dumped by the married nightclub owner she was having an affair with,
likely because he only sees Eden getting messier in the wake of her
brother's passing, Eden decides to switch her attention to Maya. Hesitant
at first, Maya embraces Eden's gestures of friendship and the two quickly
become BFFs. But when Eden kisses Maya, their relationship begins to take
a series of complicated turns.
With some skillfully obscurant storytelling, Nesher keeps us on our toes
as we try to figure out what sort of movie we're really watching. Is it
simply a lesbian romance about two young women being drawn together and
finding something positive in the wake of tragedy? Or is it something much
darker, closer to a psychological thriller? We're never quite sure about
Eden's motivations for entering a relationship with Maya. Is she genuinely
in love with Maya or is she cruelly manipulating her late brother's
girlfriend, setting her up for some sadistic punishment? Is Maya really in
love with Eden or is it a naive way of keeping Nati alive in her heart? Is
this indeed the case with Eden? At any given point in the narrative all of
the above questions might be answered in the affirmative. The two young
women are so deeply confused that neither of them could provide an answer
themselves.
What makes Come Closer so compelling is that we know Eden and Maya's relationship is a
terrible endeavour built on dubious foundations, but we want it to succeed
nonetheless. More judgemental viewers might dismiss Eden and Maya as a
pair of sickos whose behaviour represents the most offensive way to
memorialise the loss of their sibling and lover, but there's no correct
way to grieve. Nati is gone, while Eden and Maya are still here, and the
film wilfully indulges in this idea of letting the dead go with some
daringly risque jokes at the expense of Holocaust victims, the sort only
an Israeli movie could get away with.
But we really want Eden and Maya to succeed because of the chemistry
between the two exceptional young performers who embody these messy girls.
It's remarkable that both Elalouf and Rosen are making their feature
debuts here given how much depth and nuance they manage to add to their
characters. Elalouf has the more showy role and dominates every shot she's
in with her sheer magnetism, but Rosen is also excellent in perhaps a more
difficult role based on quiet hesitancy.
Nesher's film is semi-autobiographical, inspired by the passing of her
own brother at a young age. Eden's behaviour is so odd and distinctive in
points that it could only be rooted in an artist's real experience.
There's a striking scene in which Eden puts on a pair of her dead
brother's boxer shorts and puts a finger down her crotch while covering
her breasts in a bizarre attempt to bring his image back through her own
reflection. She then piles on multiple layers of her bother's clothes
until she resembles something close to the Michelin man. It's the sort of
behaviour you usually only see deranged serial killers indulge in when it
comes to the movies, but it all feels incredibly, painfully real. Eden's
manner of grieving is certainly unconventional and arguably distasteful,
but it no doubt comes from a genuine place of deep hurt and lost love.
Nesher dares to make her protagonist narcissistic and practically
sociopathic at points, but Eden is always profoundly human, and Elalouf
does a striking job of ensuring we never forget it.
