Ushpizin

Moshe (Shuli Rand, who also wrote the script) and Malli (Michal Bat-Sheva Rand), an Orthodox Jewish couple in Jerusalem, face a test of faith during the Succoth holiday, when they must extend hospitality to two escaped convicts, one of whom was a pal of Moshe’s in his wilder, godless days. The charms of this amiable, sweet-tempered, life-affirming movie are hard to describe—almost as hard to describe, in fact, as Moshe finds the inscrutable blessings and trials of God in his yeshiva studies. There are conflicts and crises, raised voices and brandished weapons, but director Gidi Dar encourages us to believe (even as Moshe and Malli—lonely, poor and childless—believe) that somehow all will work out for the best. The two Rands (husband and wife in real life) give warm, wonderful performances.