Shtaim

Shtaim (2021) is an Israeli film written and directed by Astar Elkayam.

A lesbian couple Omer (Mor Polanuer) and Bar (Agam Schuster) are deeply in love. They want to conceive a child by using artificial insemination.

Apparently, in Israel, this is accepted as normal and natural, so they proceed with the plan. The plot of the movie is what happens from that point onward.

This was an excellent film with good direction and highly capable, believable actors.

We saw Shtaim virtually from ImageOut, Rochester's excellent LGBT Film Festival. The movie doesn't yet have enough ratings to be meaningful. I really liked it, and rated it 9.

In a moment of passion, Omer and Bar decide to have a baby. Well, Bar proposed it, but Omer has to undergo pregnancy, since Bar is medically unfit. While early tasks like selecting a donor from the sperm bank seem exciting, the task of actually getting pregnant is not, especially as performed by an all-male team of doctors. Things come to head when, after several unsuccessful attempts, the sperm bank suggests IVF. (There is no mention of the possibility of using one women's eggs to impregnate the other, thereby sharing duties.) Omer feels more like an object, though a straight friend empathizes that having sex just to have a baby does feel like a chore and not a pleasure. Things get pricklier when Bar suggests they use Omer's ex Yoni as a live donor.

There is sex between receipt of the sperm sample and the insemination, and the contrast with the medical procedure may have actually put Omer more off the mood. It seems too "straight" to want to equate having sex with getting pregnant.

Beyond that, the plot point about how they needed the help of Yoni, which led to the proposal, seems to be a bit forced.

No pun intended - I reckon you can tell what I am trying to do here (and I personally would go as far as to say, I did achieve it). Not an easy subject matter - you have to be open minded to watch this. Now when it comes to same sex marriage/couples, two women together is I reckon less controversial than two men.

Still there are people who do not feel comfortable with that premise or that fact - believes and all that. I will not go into that and what anyone feels, I am just telling you, maybe do not watch this, if you know you will be outraged by it - save yourself and others from your own rage.

That said, the movie does also contain nudity, but it is always serving the story. There is a reason why things happen - the beginning is setting the mood of course and it does begin with some love making. Not explicit, but it is there and it may make some people uncomfortable - I can't stress that out enough.

The drama and the story or rather how it evolves is really engaging .. you really feel for the two main characters ... not easy to want something that is supposed to be natural ... but having issues achieving that ... different issues that is.