2012 Movie
Dir. Michael Mayer · Israel, Palestinian Territory · Arabic, Hebrew
A depressing LGBT political drama that oversimplifies the Israel-Palestine conflict
Stories of forbidden love are captivating, because in the face of a lover, in the face of one’s opposite, one cannot help but be challenged, hopefully for the better. This is not what happened here. Out in the Dark is a film debut that takes this idea in the Middle East, with two gay lovers coming from Palestine and Israel. It’s an intriguing idea, and had it been more nuanced, Israeli director Michael Mayer would have created a daring first feature, but the film clearly comes from a limited Israeli perspective, with no Palestinians casted or working behind the scenes. While the film may be sympathetic to hypothetical LGBTQ+ people in Palestine, Out in the Dark doesn’t have the guts to question why they’ve been persecuted in the first place.
Two young men — a Palestinian grad student and an Israeli lawyer — meet and fall in love amidst personal and political intrigue.
After meeting at a gay club in Tel Aviv, Palestinian grad student Nimer and Israeli lawyer Roy fall in love on opposite sides of their countries’ conflict.
Even without considering the politics, there’s just something so rushed about both the romance and the thriller aspects that makes Out in the Dark not as good as it could have been.
It’s just really disappointing.
Isabella Endrinal is a curator at A Good Movie to Watch. She's now free from the corporate night shift. Previous articles have been published in outlets such as NANG Magazine. She's currently catching up on some classic films… if she isn't coping with the fact that the Haikyu anime will end soon.
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