This is How Movies Should Be Made

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

A tale of forbidden love in a society secluded by religion, Disobedience explores the boundaries of faith & sexuality through two women who conduct a passionate affair after being reunited by a tragedy, and the film benefits a lot from Sebastián Lelio's concise direction and a sparkling chemistry between its leading ladies.The story of Disobedience follows a woman who, after learning about the news of her father's death, revisits her Orthodox Jewish community that shunned her for a transgression many years ago where she reunites with her childhood friend. But as days pass, their passions reignite and they begin their secret romance once again.Co-written & directed by Sebastián Lelio (known for A Fantastic Woman & Gloria), there is tension in the air evident from the moment our exiled protagonist returns to her residence and it only magnifies when her old flame comes into the picture. Lelio approaches the subject with patience but he still ends up hitting a few snags.Disobedience is tense & gripping whenever the screen is shared by the two Rachels and quite a chore when it isn't. You can actually sense a history between them from the moment they are in the same room and it only gets more riveting from that point onwards. But dialogues isn't its strongest suit, and the slow pace doesn't help either.What binds it together, however, is the sizzling chemistry between Rachel Weisz & Rachel McAdams as both actresses challenge & uplift each other's performances, and share a bond that has a genuine depth & weight to it. Alessandro Nivola is just as committed to his role but he is easily overshadowed by the combined strength of two Rachels.On an overall scale, Disobedience is a well directed, finely scripted & strongly acted examination of love, faith, sexuality & freedom that won't appease all. Inclining more towards arthouse cinema than mainstream entertainment, the film is going to be rich & rewarding for some while others may find its glacially moving plot a little tedious & infuriating. Still, it's worth a shot for Weisz & McAdams' intense & passionate sexual chemistry alone.

One thing needs to be said at the very beginning: Disobedience isn't a movie for everybody. I don't mean that in reference to the story, which in itself may be seen as quite controversial, as I think anyone deciding to watch the movie more or less knows what it is about. I'm talking about the pacing of the movie and the style in which it is shot. I've seen that this in a divisive issue and I can see why.To put it plainly: the movie is slow. Really slow. In a different movie with a different director the same story could have probably been told in an hour instead of two hours. For an audience used to the quick pace of modern cinema this can be a problem, but I found it wonderfully refreshing. Because the movie takes its time telling the story and building the characters, the feeling I got while watching it was that of calm and quiet. It's all the more interesting seeing that similar stories of forbidden love and faith versus sexuality are often told in a very dramatic way. In Disobedience no one shouts or even talks about their feelings and yet these feelings are still perfectly clear. This shows that with good actors, there is no need to state certain things overtly.Which leads me to acting. I really liked every single performance in the movie. Rachel Weisz is perfect as an outsider in a community that was once her own and a freethinker ready to fight for her love and freedom. Rachel McAdams is brilliant as a wife trying to both love her husband and follow the laws of her religion, and be herself and love a woman. But my favorite performance in the movie is Alessandro Nivola as a deeply hurt husband of a woman who may not really love him. All the characters are fully believable and psychologically complex, and each performance is moving in its own way.The music and the cinematography fit the story perfectly. They underline the calm feeling and add a touch of melancholy to what is quite a sad story. The coloring is quite subdued, which is perfect, as anything bright would go against the spirit of the movie.Lastly, I have to add that the movie is also a fascinating picture of the Jewish culture. I know very little about Judaism or Jewish traditions, so the opportunity to see what is looks like "from the inside" is really interesting, even if there are some aspects I don't fully understand.All in all, the movie is a very solid piece of cinema. It tells a complex story with using quite a minimalist technique and in my opinion the effect is very good. I would recommend it to anyone who isn't scared of a slow pace and having to read the emotions of the characters instead being told about them.

I wanted to like this movie. It's rare that A-list actresses sign on to play lovers, and rare to see romance between women on the big screen. But a lot of things didn't quite fit, from the editing, to the storyline, to the music, to the pacing.The score: whimsical at times, even in dramatic/tense scenes, which felt completely inappropriate. The score seemed like it belonged in a bizarre children's movie, but yet the singing scenes were very dark and sad/somber-sounding. This movie clearly took itself very seriously, so why the carnival music in parts? The cast: good acting overall, no complaints. The story: decent premise. A Rabbi's death brings together old flames in a strictly orthodox Jewish London community, and tensions rise, as well as feelings. But the end...no thanks. Editing/pacing: abrupt at times and feeling disjointed, yet also slow and lingering too long in scenes that dragged. So many directors think that if you are slow and have long, tedious scenes, you will be considered a genius for being artsy and understated. That just isn't how it works. Character development: eh. This movie really would have benefitted from more than just a few words about the past, but scenes depicting more of the history and story between the women. I want to see more depth with these women, but it does end up feeling one-dimensional due to the script and/or editing.In sum, even today, in 2018, 9 out of 10 movies about women who love each other end with suicide/murder, a woman going back to a man, a woman cheating on her partner with a man (or woman), or some other equally unforgivable outcome, and I say unforgivable because movie producers love to portray gay/bi women as tortured and unable to experience a healthy same-sex relationship. Guess which one this movie falls under, because I won't spoil it...My advice, skip this and re-watch Carol. I felt like this one wasted my time.

A movie where wigs are snatched, spit is swallowed and Judaism is Orthodox. No lesbians die or get converted by a man in this beautiful movie. There are lots of kisses, shy looks, eye-sex, forbidden hand holding and only one f word. Rachel Weisz is a real sinnamon roll as rebellious Ronit, and Rachel McAdams slays playing cinnamon roll Esti. The ending is left open, hopefully for a sequel. Would recommend 10/10