Like with Paradise Now, Abu-Assad finds a perfect balance between delicate drama and taut thriller in this well-constructed Palestinian film that depicts with intense realism life under Israeli occupation, while posing difficult questions to which there are no easy answers.

Omar(Adam Bakri) climbs the security wall for his job in Israel at a bakery, in order to save up enough money to marry Nadia(Leem Lubany) who he trades notes with. However, that course of action is not entirely without risk, as he also dodges bullets and faces the tough questioning and beatings of any Israeli troops he cannot dodge. Otherwise, he hangs out with his childhood friends, Tarek(Eyad Hourani), Nadia's older brother, and Amjad(Samer Bisharat) who does a cool Brando impression. Together, they go into the woods for target practice before taking aim for real at an Israeli soldier... While "Omar" has certain faults like a couple of inexplicable plot strands that serve only to move the story along and a sudden, problematic ending, it is still a solid, morally complex movie that goes beyond simple politics to show how actions do have consequences. On the one hand, you have the title character who risks his possible happiness with Nadia for the future of his people. Making this harder emotionally is Rami(Waleed F. Zuaiter, who is excellent), an Israeli agent, who uses much more humane methods to get information than lighting a fire under somebody's scrotum. All the while, Omar's lawyer(Yael Lerer) has the best solution and a perfectly common sense one when she says to end the occupation.