Fill the Void (2012)

“Rabbi Nachman of Breslev says that blessed be he who says one word of truth to the Almighty his entire life.” – Rabbi

Number of Times Seen – Twice (8 Nov 2012 and 16 Feb 2021)

Brief Synopsis – Following the death of her sister in childbirth, a young woman contemplates marrying er brother in law in order to help raise her nephew.

My Take on it – Intriguing idea that is a bit too niche.

Having a close familiarity with the religious views of these characters, I have a much clearer understanding of things than most casual viewers would and that fact doesn’t help make this an even more engaging story, which is quite a shame.

The religious background of this sect of Judaism is quite important to understand in order to try and grasp some of the complex concepts that the film brings forth.

The story isn’t as coherent as it could be and even with prior knowledge, the story didn’t work well enough to convince me that these characters are meant to be real in everything that they say or do.

Some people might think that this society is very backwards in their thoughts and that is so far from the truth, but as presented here, they do give off that kind of impression.

Anyone familiar with Fiddler on the Roof (1971) know about Jewish matchmaking and this film takes things a bit too far in the way that they show things in that realm.

The characters are all quite superficial and fail to make us truly care about anything that happens here which is truly a pity because this kind of story and exposure to these people misses the opportunity to make things more profound.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Hadas Yaron had to lie to get out of her military duty to audition for the film. (From IMDB)

Rating – BAFTA Worthy (5/10)