221. The Day After I'm Gone; movie review

THE DAY AFTER I'M GONE
Cert TBA
98 mins
BBFC advice: TBA

It is both depressing and, ultimately, pointless to try to put ourselves in the position of a teenager who has lost a mother.
Ditto losing a partner at an early age. Even at 57, I could not bear the thought of tragedy befalling Mrs W, so empty would my life become.
However, watching bereavement does spark selfish contemplation.
Therefore, The Day After I am Gone is a tough watch as a father (Menashe Noy) and daughter (Zohar Meidan) are torn apart in their grief over the death of a respective wife and mother.
Noy plays Yoram, a vet at a Tel Aviv safari park who is detached to the point of being almost silent as the pair fail to handle the emotions of bereavement.
Meanwhile, he is afraid for Meidan's Roni who disappears for such extended periods that he finds himself reporting her as missing to the police.
Sadly, her vanishing act turns out not to be the low point of her depression and only when she finally hits bottom, he decides to react.
Nimrod Eldar's movie is scary. As a middle-aged man, my stabilisers are family - Mrs W, our two adult children and my parents.
While I understand that my mum and dad will not be around forever, I cannot conceive of anything happening to my other rocks.
Therefore, I could only view Yoram's position thinking: "what if that were me?"
He sinks within himself, refusing help from professionals or even well-meaning family and friends.
His daughter immerses herself in a cyber world which transpires to be damaging to her mental health.
Hope is in short supply for the bereaved pair and even when it emerges, they struggle to recognise it.
The only healer can be time but is there enough of it? That is the question posed by this engaging but heartbreaking movie.

Reasons to watch: Thoughtful and well-pitched
Reasons to avoid: Few moments of intensity

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? According to a report in 2015 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the highest teenage suicide rates were observed in Canada, Estonia, Latvia, Iceland, and New Zealand, with 10 or more suicides per 100 000. By contrast, the countries with the lowest suicide rates were Greece, Israel, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, with less than 3 suicides per 100 000 teenagers.

The final word. Nimrod Eldar: "No man is an island, and the ability to reconnect, to believe once again, and to be able to accept are all part of our hero’s journey." 

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