Claustrophobic

Spoilers follow!

This was a very good movie. I believed it. I don't know how realistic it was as I don't know enough about Israel and Palestine. I know something, but not enough to make a judgement on how realistic the events in this movie were. But I believe it.

I tried to identify with Nimr and felt so claustrophobic throughout the movie. It felt so real; he had NO PLACE to go. It felt like he was trapped in a tunnel with no exit or something throughout the movie.I tried to think what I would do it in his place. As the majority of the movies of this type are so badly written, you always think of a solution and what the character could do if he had just a bit of brain. But in this case, I couldn't think of anything, apart from maybe going to foreign embassies (or consulates?) in Tel Aviv and seeking asylum. But that may not have worked. The embassy would have been more than likely to cooperate with Israeli authorities and reject any asylum application. So, I realized the movie was in fact very well written. I expected Nimr to be killed or him to take his own life. I could not see a way out. In fact, we don't know what happened to him. As I'm writing this, I hear on the news about an illegal immigrant boat sinking off the coast of Indonesia on its way to Australia, killing 28 people, while the Australian Prime Minster promises that "no boat people will be accepted in the country". This is an everyday news in the world. It's all very sad and depressing.

I also tried to think how I would end the movie if I were the writer. I think I would end it exactly like it did end. The uncertainty and ambiguity of the ending captures the reality very well. A happy ending would have been inappropriate and unrealistic, in my opinion at least. A tragic ending where one of the two gets killed - too much of a cliche. This was a smart ending.