Greenwich Entertainment
There is a classic narrative device of ‘old meets young’ which can express itself in many ways: Mentor and student, past their prime and just getting started, etc. But when you use parallels, e.g. older actor to younger actor, it lets you comment on how things have changed and retain some of the wisdom to pass on. At the same time, it also lets in the possibility of preventing stasis with the injection of youthful energy. No wonder the idea gets used so often.
Sublet comes from Israeli director Eytan Fox with a screenplay co-written by Itay Segal, and stars John Benjamin Hickey as Michael, a writer for the New York Times who specializes in travelogues for the ‘common man’. He comes to Tel Aviv in a neighborhood near the beach to stay at a sublet of someone’s apartment — instead of a hotel, that is, as it’s all part of the ‘low key’ vibe.
But due to a mix up, the owner Tomer (Niv Nissim) hasn’t left yet, and since he desperately needs the money, he persuades Michael not to leave. Instead, Tomer offers to show Michael around the area as a local, which certainly appeals to the idea of Michael’s travelogue. We then see hints of Michael’s life back home, some sort of drama or trauma discussed with his partner over the Internet, and maybe why he was so invested in taking a break.
As the two begin to learn more about each other, it is revealed that both of them are gay men but have experienced that world very differently. Michael was a young man in the 80s and wrote a bestselling book about the AIDS crisis, while Tomer, as a film student in his 20s, has never considered the crisis as anything more than sad history to be moved past. But of course, as to be expected, we know that these two will learn and grow from each other because it’s that sort of movie. Any tragedy will be there to inform the story and help us understand them better rather than being the centerpiece of the story itself.
The movie doesn’t seem really meant to be about Tel Aviv, not really, it’s just a setting for these two men to meet each other when they would never have otherwise. The only relevant moments about being set in Israel come from an artistic dance piece by one of Tomer’s friends and her Palestinian boyfriend, and mentions of Michael’s secular upbringing despite being Jewish. But it’s not really a big theme in the movie.
At only ninety minutes, the movie breezes along at a brisk pace, never lingering long enough to get repetitive or dull, but enough time for us to get a feel for these two characters and buy into their rapport and connection. Longtime character actor John Benjamin Hickey is great here, and Niv Nissim matches him well in his first film role. It’s a movie that’s all about the people as they find connections despite differences, and if perhaps the resolutions are a bit predictable, they feel like the right choices were made.
It’s a classic sort of ‘slice-of-life’ movie, not really about anything world changing or deep into action, just a movie that gets its most dramatic moments from character interactions and revelations of trauma. Definitely a pleasant sort of film to remind you of the world outside and how things have changed and how they still can get better in the future.
Want to see Sublet and judge for yourself? Click below to see the movie, and be sure to come back and tell us what you thought!
Sublet has a run time of 1 hour 29 minutes and is not rated.
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