The Other Widow (2022) Review

The Other Widow (2022) 

(83 mins, tbc)

Dir. Ma’Ayan Rypp; Starring Dana Ivgy, Ania Bukstein, Anat Atzmon 

The Other Widow is ab

le to depict uncomfortable tension extremely well, an essence of sad desperation is attached to every scene. Director Ma’Ayan Rypp achieves this through piercing acting, slow deliberate dialogue and intimate closeups. 

When married theatre director Assaf dies suddenly, his costume designer girlfriend Ella is at a complete loss. We follow Ella as she navigates her way through grief and turmoil, gaining relationships to those who were in Assaf’s other life. Dana Ivgy gives an understated yet powerful performance as Ella, the secret girlfriend of Assaf of four years. We watch her get closer to her boyfriend’s widow with hands clasped over our eyes. Visually, The Other Widow is lovely to look at with many poignant shots and the sincere moments of altered reality stand out far more in the film than the rest. The film could have benefited from more moments such as when Ella was physically drowning in the black fabric of the widow’s dress. These felt far more interesting and palpable than some of the other scenes we see in the build up. As much as Rypp tries to create empathy for Ella’s character, there is a struggle to truly connect with her as she continues to make so many outrageous decisions with Assaf’s family, all the while failing at her job at the theatre. We gain insight into her grief ridden mindset, but she feels an all too unlikable character to truly align with. The level of cringe and small comedic relief, (as well as location context) feels somewhat similar to that of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby (2020), just without as many laughs and a far more existential sadness.