Movie of the Day: Barren (2022) by Mordechai Vardi

An ultra-Orthodox twenty-something couple in Israel, unable to conceive children, find their lives upended in this provocative drama about faith and sexual exploitation. After Naftali travels to Ukraine during Rosh Hashanah to pray for a child, his wife, Feigi, is left alone with her in-laws, who invite the rabbi Elijah for the holiday. Claiming to be a healer of barren women, Elijah convinces Feigi to undergo his treatment, starting a chain of events that lead to crises of belief, conscience, and marriage for the couple once Naftali returns. Director Mordechai Vardi based his film on true events, raising fundamental theological questions and revealing the vulnerability of women living within such enclosed religious environments. Nominee Award for Israeli Cinema, Jerusalem Film Festival 2022. LInk IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21237894/ Link Review: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-717835 Link to watch: https://virtual.filmlinc.org/film/barren/ (available untill 23th Jan, New York Jewish Film Festival 2023)