‘The Other Widow’ (2022) Review

(85 mins, Rating TBC)

Directed by Ma’Ayan Rypp; starring Dana Ivgy, Anna Bukstein, Itamar Rotschild

“How much can a person cry?” asks a disgruntled theatre director looking at the ambitious but impractical dress that his costume designer Ella (Dana Ivgy) has presented him. “A lot” she replies. A brief interaction that encapsulates the intense depth of feeling on display in Ma’Ayan Rypp’s debut feature The Other Widow. Ella’s lover of four years has died. In attempt to process her grief, she starts to attend his Shiva (7 days of mourning according to Jewish tradition), where she becomes familiar with her lover’s bereaved wife.

In a subversion of the typically antagonistic ‘other woman’ role, Ella is a flawed protagonist. Her family don’t trust her. Her colleagues don’t respect her. She seems awkwardly cut off from others, sitting on the arm of the sofa while others take the cushions, even before her lover dies. As if a love triangle where one of the members is dead wasn’t awkward enough, Rypp taps into the uncomfortableness of navigating shared grief and dials it to 11. The film utilises moments of deadpan comedy, played at the lowest possible volume. Viewing loss through a cringe comedy lens feel reminiscent of Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, but where that film shouted, The Other Widow whispers.

The delicate tonal blend the film is aiming for is commendable, even if not entirely successful. Heightened moments of fantasy in the theatre distract from the rawness of the real world scenes. The jokes might prompt nasal exhales instead of laughs. The dramatic climaxes might not make you cry. But that confusing midpoint between emotions is where The Other Widow is at it’s most compelling. Rypp is attempting a delicate tightrope, just about managing to stay balanced.