Telescope: Find international film

Foxtrot(פוֹקְסטְרוֹט)

✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Israel, Switzerland, Germany • 2017
Rated R • 1h53
Director Samuel Maoz
Starring Lior Ashkenazi, Sarah Adler, Yonaton Shiray, Shira Haas
Genre Drama

Michael and Dafna are devastated when army officials show up at their home to announce the death of their son, Jonathan, who had been serving at an Israeli checkpoint. As they grapple with what’s happened, they experience one of life's unfathomable twists, which rivals the surreal military experiences of their son.

Show all

WHAT ARE PEOPLE SAYING?

Be the first to comment about this film.

WHAT ARE CRITICS SAYING?

Screen International by Dan Fainaru

Though it is all about mourning and loss, Maoz’ script reaches way beyond, unveiling in each one of his leading characters deep layers of past guilt that might have never been revealed in normal circumstances.

The Hollywood Reporter by Deborah Young

Maoz doesn't seem to worry about losing some puzzled viewers along the way with comprehension issues. For those who reach the end, the story makes perfect sense.

TheWrap by Elizabeth Weitzman

Samuel Maoz’s Israeli drama Foxtrot is willfully confusing, emotionally chaotic, and occasionally anarchic. It makes complete sense from one angle, but no sense at all from another. In other words, it reflects its subject perfectly.

100

IndieWire by Eric Kohn

Maoz maintains such a riveting formalism that everything seems to fit together.

100

Variety by Jay Weissberg

Brilliantly constructed with a visual audacity that serves the subject rather than the other way around, this is award-winning filmmaking on a fearless level.

CineVue by John Bleasdale

Foxtrot is a bold and imaginative portrait of the confines of family.

100

The Playlist by Oliver Lyttelton

It’s a film that can swing between absurdist humor and brutal gut-punch sadness in a way that’s rare and, at times, truly profound.

Movie Nation by Roger Moore

It’s a somber film with flashes of wit, with funereal pacing and long, poignant close-ups that let the players — especially Ashkenazi and Adler — let us see there’s more than what we see on the surface, just with a look.

The Guardian by Xan Brooks

A nightmarish triptych of loss, waste and grief that is nonetheless arranged with such visionary boldness that it dares us to look away.

The Film Stage by Zhuo-Ning Su

The genius and creative dexterity of Maoz are on full display here.