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Critics Consensus: Sand Storm marks an impressive first feature for debuting writer-director Elite Zexer that offers a perceptive -- and crucial -- look at patriarchal traditions.
Critic Consensus: Sand Storm marks an impressive first feature for debuting writer-director Elite Zexer that offers a perceptive -- and crucial -- look at patriarchal traditions.
All Critics (39) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (36) | Rotten (3)
The movie is like a study in prisoner psychology.
It's set in the heart of the desert, but the disturbances of the quietly impressive "Sand Storm" rage not in the natural world but in the intimate corners of the human heart.
Rich in cultural specifics but also universal longings.
It's a fairly familiar critique of patriarchy from a humanist, feminist perspective, but one put across with some very impressive filmmaking skills by a first-time director.
As a director, Ms. Zexer has a fine eye for the texture of daily life, which she fills in with resonant physical details and sweeping, scene-setting views.
This emotionally intelligent first feature offers a sympathetic but clear-eyed look at the tangled skein of inequalities that entrap women (and the men they love and resent) in a Bedouin village.
"Sand Storm" provides the satisfaction of a good ol' fashioned family drama from an invigorating new point of view.
By placing the emphasis on the characters, the performance, and the subtext, Zexer has crafted something truly accomplished.
There is a grim sense of inevitability that runs through Sand Storm, yet Jalila's incandescent spirit contains the hope that the old ways are soon to be a thing of the past.
Sand Storm is a work that faced many risks, met them head-on and overcame them, resulting in a work of art.
Bedouins who live in the Negev desert may not have to worry about traffic jams, but otherwise their lives are not too good.
Despite a startlingly barbed send-off, the film's strongest virtues simply evaporate; as ever, it's hard to escape the sense that the more radical filmmaking is happening elsewhere.
If being made by an Israeli woman would perhaps indicate bias against Bedouin cultures living in the country (and that is material for an article), at least Zexer does a solid job in her first full-length feature with a sad story that relies on some very fine performances.
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