Kfulim

For those who speak Hebrew it will be far more enjoyable but for the rest of us we have to struggle between fast talking dialogue and subtitles. Even though it is enjoyable with great acting

My wife and I just saw the first two episodes at the SF Jewish Film Festival. Although I didn't see the Israeli "Prisoners of War" before it was adopted in the US as Homeland, I loved Homeland. But the first two episodes of Kfulim, or False Flag, were even better than Homeland, which was great. The subtitles (the show is in Hebrew) don't detract at all from the intense suspense.

This totally engrossing thriller - all without any violence so far - is compelling even in a theater, and I'll watch compulsively streaming or on TV. After two episodes, all we have is mysteries, so the eight-episode season holds great promise.

No wonder they say the Israeli originals are better!

The story of five random people that get entangled in a world of politics, conspiracies, and death, "Kfulim" starts strong, keeps a grip-your-sofa gripping second act and ends on a high note (even if, though, it leaves some loose ends that could have been better tied).

The plot in its basics: five citizens of Israel with double nationality but otherwise seemingly normal lives are accused of kidnapping the Iranian Minister of Defense. Little by little we get to know why, how and all the other answers to the questions behind the kidnapping. At the beginning, though, all five of them seem to be completely innocent people (ok, except Sean, who looks shady from second one). The plot does a decent job on developing this premise (even if, when you think about it after ending the show, it is all a little bit head-scratching because some plot points make no sense).

However, the strongest points of the show are the characters, all of them really interesting and well developed, and the pace of the development of the story. In regards of the first, the characters are fleshed out and the acting good enough. And in regards to the second, the rhythm, the music, the camera work all work to make every episode "Lost"-style gripping, normally ending with a cliffhanger and with some really nice twists along the way.

I thought that this was one of the best shows I've watched in a long time. The characters are well drawn out and it seems that each episode bought a new twist. I never for sure knew who was who. I know this is a bit vague. My only quibble is that the subtitles are in a yellow font. Very difficult at times to read.

It starts really well, interesting plot about some random people accused to have kidnapped an Iranian politician. Episode 2-3 are still good but then it starts to slow down and the pace of the movie is not good enough. There are a lot of staring and not answering just to make the show going. The end is quite disappointing.