SummaryIn this re-imagining of the old mystical folklore, when a woman’s tight-knit Jewish community is besieged by foreign invaders, she conjures a dangerous creature to protect them, but it may be more evil than she ever imagined.
SummaryIn this re-imagining of the old mystical folklore, when a woman’s tight-knit Jewish community is besieged by foreign invaders, she conjures a dangerous creature to protect them, but it may be more evil than she ever imagined.
The Golem is creepy, as the cinematography is awash with atmosphere and the use of such a creature is interesting. The dramatic side of things mostly holds up as well, and when combined with the excellent acting, the movie turns out to be very effective and memorable.
A well-crafted and idiosyncratic supernatural thriller, the film plays like a mix of “Frankenstein,” “The Witch,” and some of the Coen brothers’ more explicitly Jewish movies.
Its approach to the source material (a close cousin to the Frankenstein tale) is emotionally and intellectually sincere, enacted seriously, if not always engrossingly, by cast and crew.
It’s a far-from-awful folk tale with a horrific edge. But it’s not suspenseful, and the generally unaffecting performances by the Israeli cast fail to draw us in and create empathy for the endangered.