The Attack

Dr. Amin Jaafari is a non-practicing Muslim who is a celebrated surgeon in Tel Aviv. He still faces suspicions and racism but he seems to be the pinnacle of integration and secularism. Then everything changes when his Arab Christian wife Siham becomes a suicide bomber who killed 17 people including many children. He is devastated and isolated. He goes to seek the truth by himself.

This movie takes the intractable Palestinian-Isreali conflict down to a personal level. The first half is filled with great tension. However it doesn't carry it all the way through. The reveal, if it could be called that, is not compelling enough. It hints on something more shattering. Also the use of a Christian wife demands something more than the unity-of-oppression argument. It seems like an unnecessary side trip. Mostly it worked because the first half is so strong, and the second half isn't too bad.