Israeli filmmaker Tom Nesher–daughter of filmmaker Avi Nesher–makes her feature debut behind the camera with Come Closer.

The film, selected to premiere at Tribeca, is a very personal film for Nesher. Her brother, Ari, died in a hit-and-run accident five years ago in Tel Aviv. Come Closer is a direct result of the filmmaker’s grief and search for solace–Nesher wrote the screenplay as a way of processing grief. Much like the two siblings in the film, they were close in real life. They did not keep secrets from each other or so the filmmaker thought.

Eden (Lia Elalouf) did not know her brother, Nati (Ido Taka), had a girlfriend prior to his tragic passing in an accident. When Eden learns about Maya (Darya Rosenn), she starts an investigation into this young woman. After all, Maya shares her love for Nati. It is not quite the traditional way of grieving but Eden hopes to keep Nati alive in some way. One imagines that most people would probably not start a clandestine investigation but to each their own. In any event, the two have very different ways of grieving their loss. Strangely enough, they start falling for each other. Eden learns that the two of them were planning a trip to the Sinai and decides they should go. Is this their way of keeping Nati’s memory alive? Maybe.

It’s not uncommon to want to do something to keep someone’s memory alive. However, I would imagine that most cases would not include stalking a loved one’s secret girlfriend or boyfriend. I can imagine why they might but it could also border on being unhealthy.

Everyone has their own way of grieving. It is not lost on me either that the film is dealing with grief at such a dark time for so many people. I imagine a number of people will not even see or touch this film during Tribeca because of the mere fact that it is an Israeli movie. That’s just unfortunate. While I’m not attending the festival in person this year because Shavuot impacts scheduling on my end, I felt an obligation to cover the film because it is an Israeli movie.

Come Closer explores ways that grief can keep a loved one’s memory alive in a solid first feature.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Tom Nesher
CAST: Lia Elalouf, Darya Rosenn, Netta Garti, Yaakov Zada Daniel, Ido Tako, Shlomi Shaban, Ofek Pesach, Yael Shoshana Cohen, Lia Schon, Shay Litman

Come Closer holds its world premiere during the 2024 Tribeca Festival in the Viewpoints program. Grade: 3.5/5

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