Shoshana (2024)

Written for RAF News February 2024

A defiant relationship between a Jewish woman and a member of the British Palestine Police Force is at the heart of Michael Winterbottom’s political thriller set in late 1930s Tel Aviv.

Based on real people and events, the backdrop to the romance between Assistant Superintendent Thomas Wilkin (Douglas Booth) and journalist Shoshana Borochov (Irina Starshenbaum), is the violent foundation of the Israeli state during the British Mandate of Palestine. At a time when Jewish immigrants are seeking refuge from Nazi-occupied countries, and the division between Arab and Jewish populations is becoming more pronounced, British forces are tasked with containing radical extremists. Acts of terrorism are growing in size and severity, presenting ideas and imagery that resonate with the ongoing Israel – Hamas conflict.

Shoshana is the daughter of a revolutionary Marxist Zionist, and a member of Haganah: an underground territorial defence force that advocates for the creation of an independent Jewish state. Wilkin is shown to have embedded himself into the community, earning a mutual trust that is abandoned by the new Superintendent Geoffrey Morton (Harry Melling) who intends to snuff out the Jewish independence movement, despite their wish for peace. Forcing Tom and Shoshana into opposition, their relationship looks to become just another casualty in this enveloping war of ideals.

The shooting style and editing pace do well to suspend you in uncertainty, as the ticking time-bomb of political unease is probed in the hunt for Avraham Stern (Aury Alby), leader of the Zionist paramilitary organisation Irgun. 

Intended to show how political extremism forges enemies, even of lovers, the tensions of the relationship are symbolised in the warring factions of the region, however the combat makes the quarrelled love affair feel trivial by comparison. 

Despite shifting focus the final act of Shoshana is thrilling, and though it has been a passion project 15 years in the making, it is unfortunately more relevant than ever.