White Eye (2020)

White Eye Review

White Eye is a 2020 Israeli live-action short film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. It’s a passable flick.

A man finds his stolen bicycle and it now belongs to a stranger. In his attempts to retrieve the bicycle, he struggles to remain human. The problem with this movie is that it’s too simple and also rather contrived. The man happens upon African migrants and his actions lead to the arrest of an illegal Eritrean migrant. It was important to see that migrant experience in Israel, but it wasn’t done in a particularly insightful manner.

The movie is well shot. I couldn’t find out what city this was filmed in, but the decrepit buildings, prostitutes, migrants and criminals made for a very sad image. The acting is also quite good, but the direction is weak and the film did not really go anywhere with its premise. It’s repetitive, overlong and rarely as deep as it thinks it is. It’s thus one of the weaker nominees this year for this category.

White Eye is well made and acted with a solid premise, but the execution is contrived, repetitive and lacking in depth.

My Rating – 3