Two teenage boys and their families, living on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian border, come to know that the boys were accidentally switched after their birth in a hospital. Such a situation set across such an enmity-filled landscape could very well be expected to escalate into chaos and violence, but thankfully, the uneasy situation and the extraordinary story is well handled, and without being melodramatic.
Lorraine Levy skilfully and essentially makes it a general human story, getting past its national and traditional boundaries. It tries to question identity in the face of change; genetics vs upbringing, religion, goals, where do we actually belong?, and what actually matters? The two teenage leading characters in the movie, Joseph and Yacine, deal with the situation and these questions with a certain level of maturity and sensibility, which comes from their background of education and non-inclination towards religious extremism. It also helps that the two sets of parents are intelligent and good-willed people who guide the boys to an informed and sensible transition. And that's where the beauty of the story lies.
The acting by the two leads, Jules Sitruk and Mehdi Dehbi, and the remaining cast is commendable, but it's Emmanuelle Devos, as Joseph's mother, who stands out from the rest. The scene in which the details of the birth-switching is disclosed to the two families is quite heart-rending. And the scene in which Joseph, in a moment of inspiration, starts singing an Arabic song in front of his birth-family to distract everyone from the awkward atmosphere, is quite delightful.
(A particular song used in the trailer as well as the movie, Yael Naim's 'My Dreams', is quite a beautiful and meaningful one)
