Review of "The Bubble"

But as it inevitably must, the real world intrudes, and Ashraf must once again return to his closeted existence in Nablus. There his sister, Rana (Ruba Blal), is set to marry Jihad (Shredy Jabarin), a militant member of Hamas. Despite his closeness to Rana, Ashraf still hides his sexuality, allowing his sister to believe that he has been seeing a female divorcée from Jerusalem.

Though Rana appears rather progressive, intent on finishing her schooling in Jordan before settling down to raise a family, her relationship with Jihad hints at her deep-seated conservative mindset.

It's telling that the one person Ashraf feels closest to remains a source of fear. The film conveys the sense of longing for connection that would drive an Arab man to travel across the Israeli border on the off chance that an Israeli soldier with whom he shared a fleeting glance might not only be gay, but also won't kill him on sight for simply being an Arab.

Back in Tel Aviv, Lulu grows tired of Noam moping around their apartment and devises a sweet, though ill-advised plan to briefly reunite her two friends. Posing as a French television news crew on assignment, Lulu and Noam cross the border and visit Ashraf's home. Their visit is a risky one as it threatens to out Ashraf to his family and potentially put his life in jeopardy. Making a hasty exit before too much damage is done, the friends convince Ashraf to return to Tel Aviv for the rave.

The rave provides a hedonistic escape and a chance for everyone to forget about the mounting dangers beginning to puncture the bubble they live in — an ironic twist, since the purpose of the rave is to protest the occupation and the ongoing war. But that seems to be exactly the point Fox is trying to make.

He is critical of these naïve, idealistic young people who want to "dance instead of shoot" and fool themselves into thinking they're making a difference. It's unclear if Fox wants the audience to condemn them for their self-centeredness or pity them for having to face such decisions, but it is always clear how much affection he has for them.

Earlier in the film, as the group roams the streets of Tel Aviv promoting their event, they're confronted by a woman who demands to know what they hope to accomplish. Indeed, in the planning stages the group readily admits they don't even have a way to invite any Palestinians to the event — and it's hard not to come down on the side of the woman.

As they dance, drug and flirt at their beachside "Rave for Peace," they don't resemble the socially conscious adults they claim to be, so much as a group of unruly children having a wild party to prove how grown up they are.

As the story descends inexorably into tragedy, it becomes clear how well Fox and Uchovsky have written these characters. They may frustrate us, they may anger us, but we genuinely care for them, and it's important that we do. When one character makes a crucial decision late in the film that seems to defy logic, we maintain a grim understanding of where their motivation lies.

The Bubble shows Fox and Uchovsky's growing comfort with incorporating politics into their work, a problem that muddled their last film, Walk on Water, which tried to tackle too many issues. By narrowing their focus, the pair excel in this story of a group of friends who find they can't shield themselves from the harsh realities of the world in which they live.