Disobedience (2018) - Movie Review

Disobedience is a hard movie to review. Mostly because I'm not really sure why I went to see this film. I like independent films and there wasn't much showing this weekend. So my wife and I sort of ended up at Disobedience by default. I knew the premise of the film was about forbidden love and the backdrop of an Orthodox Jewish community was somewhat intriguing. But the film didn't sound entirely captivating. It wasn't.

Ronit Krushka (Rachel Weisz) is the daughter of a beloved rabbi, Rav Krushka (Anton Lesser). However, she has been banished from her Orthodox Jewish community. She has made a new life in New York as a photographer. Ronit is contacted during a photo shoot to advise her that her father has died. Her arrival back in London causes a bit of a stir. The Rav's heir apparent is Dovid Kuperman (Allesandro Nivola), Ronit's childhood friend. In Ronit's absence, Dovid has married their mutual friend Esti (Rachel McAdams). In spite of Ronit's banishment, the Kuperman's invite her into their home while Dovid sits shiva for the Rav.

Esti is frum. She wears a wig, she totes a cart and she toes the line. Ronit's arrival upsets the delicate balance that Esti has maintained, awakening her desires. Esti has suppressed her lesbian desires to fit into her orthodox community. It was the Rav himself who recommended she and Dovid marry. As the synagogue leadership contemplate elevating Dovid to the position of Rav, things at home spiral out of control. Esti's urges lead her to question her life decisions and seek an alternative.

I was mildly interested in Disobedience for the insight into the orthodox community. I didn't know wigs were "a thing." I didn't know about ravs, I didn't know much about sitting shiva (other than that it was done), I didn't know that sex was scheduled for Fridays. In a sense, I learned a bit from this film. But mostly, this film was utterly boring. It was slow, it was unfulfilling and it lacked substance. The story was character driven, with characters that were only mildly engaging. I just didn't care what happened to the characters, so my engagement with the film was minimal.

You really can't blame the casting for the failure of these characters to engage. I really like both McAdams (who I recently reviewed in the film Game Night) and Weisz. Nivola has been in several films I have seen, but he has never stood out to me. His performance was solid in this film, serving as an anchor for the broader story. I liked him. The casting was great. The characters were just average and uninteresting. If a plot lacks action and a tense climax, it should at least have characters that you can root for. I was ambivalent.

Disobedience was rated R by the MPAA. The rating was primarily related to the thematic elements. There were two sex scenes, but both were somewhat mild. One was heterosexual and showed exposed breasts, the other was girl-on-girl and did not contain any nudity. The language seemed pretty tame as well. The rating seems a bit strict for this film. Although it was boring enough that the rating is almost irrelevant. The film was one hour and 54 minutes long and felt every minute of it. Particularly the ending which sort of blew in the wind as the writers tried to reconcile the story line.

Disobedience is enjoying a modest rating of 6.8 on IMDb right now. It would not surprise me if the rating trends downward in the coming weeks. The film is a snoozer. Lack of engaging characters in a character-driven story is a death knell. The plot itself was trudging with an ending that was sloppy and unrewarding. The acting was great. I loved the cast but disliked the characters. I learned some stuff, which is always a good thing. But overall, I left the theater feeling unrewarded. I am going to give this film the mildest of recommendations at 5.5/10. There were redeeming qualities. But objectively, the film had plenty of room for improvement. I wanted to like it more. I just didn't.

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