The subject matter intrigued me a lot, and there were some big, relevant topics and themes that are important and current and always worth addressing. That was my main incentive for seeing 'In Between', as well as wanting to see as many films released in 2017 in my country as possible.'In Between' is a great, interesting and more than worthwhile film that is worthy of more exposure. It's not one of my favourites certainly but as far as 2017 films go, it is one of the year's most under-appreciated and under-viewed. Read that the mayor of Umm al-Fahm forbade the film and that Maysaloun Hamoud had a fatwa issued against her, and it is a shame that she and the film have been treated that way and really they deserve much better. Subtlety is not a strong suit, with parts that are a touch too heavy-handed and contrived, like how the characters are written at times, which considering what is being talked about was always going to be a danger. Although it might be different for others, there wasn't anything that offended me or came over as questionable.Having said that, the points that Hamoud makes in 'In Between' are well worth paying attention to. As said, 'In Between' addresses some big, sensitive topics and themes that are very much relevant anywhere, it deals with them in a way that provokes a lot of thought and intrigue. The story, with all the various aspects of the characters' lives (like Jewish neighbour relationships, reactions to a same sex relationship, resistance to suppression and underground culture), is nimbly handled with a lot of genuinely powerful moments.Visually, 'In Between' is deftly and beautifully shot and edited, while Hamoud directs with adept control and the writing is full of good intentions and certainly makes an impact. The music adds a lot to the atmosphere and emotion.Shaden Kanboura, Mouna Hawa, Sana Jammelieh and Henry Andrawes all give powerful performances, especially the truly affecting Kanboura.All in all, may not be the easiest of watches but a great and very interesting film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

As an Arabian woman myself, I really felt connected to this movie so this can come out a little bit biased, however, regardless of that, I think the script was really impressive, it was realistic, capturing ''problems'' that do exist in an Arabic society, even when we're living in Israel, which compared to to every Arab country, it is the safest to be in for us to experience our freedom... Or so that what we thought. The movie casts its light on these issues, showing that we still struggle with such problems & it shows that it mustn't be ignored, I liked that bold move and how just too realistic it was and that's just sad. I do recommend watching it, it's a movie I wouldn't mind watching again and I don't re-watch movies.

For once the English translation of the Hebrew title of this film was quite inspired. In Hebrew it was screened as 'lo po, lo sham' (not here, not there) and 'In Between' reflects even better the state of mind but also the social status of the three heroins of this interesting film. It also is quite a rare (but not unique) production in the local film market, a film about the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, spoken almost entirely in Arab, dealing with the tensions and problems in the society and communities of the Arabs living in Israel. I need to mention also that the film was produced by Shlomi Elkabetz and is dedicated to the memory of his late wife Ronit Elkabetz, a wonderful actress and film-maker who passed away a year ago, and supported financially by several Israeli film funds and TV stations.The three Arab young women in the center of the film live in the cosmopolitan city of Tel Aviv, a city which is liberal and permissive by any criteria. In Israel it is sometimes called 'The Bubble' because of the differences in style of life from the rest of the country – the gape between living in Tel Aviv and the rest of Israel is as large as the gape between living in Manhattan and the rest of the US, or Paris and the rest of France. These differences are even more accentuated for people coming from the Arab sectors society (which are much more traditional than the Jewish ones) and even sharper for women. Leila (Mouna Hawa), Salma (Sana Jammelieh), and Nour (Shaden Kanboura) have each a different life story, try to cope differently with the social, professional, genre, and emotional problems, but at the end will share the same fate of being pushed aside and discriminated for several reasons – belonging to the Arab minority, being women, trying to adopt a style of life and exercise professions, making their own choices in the personal lives.Such stories cannot have a happy end, and the final scene is almost a freeze-up on desperation, although we know that their fight continues. I liked the solidarity of the three women, the direct, almost rough way their stories are told, the way the three actress enter or better say live in their roles. I liked less the schematic approach of presenting the other characters, bad (mostly) or good. Script author and director Maysaloun Hamoud seems to have borrowed many of the stereotypes of the Israeli films, and her approach in describing the Arab families as super-conservative and the Big City as a living hell populated with smoking, drinking, and drugs misses many other aspects of these complex worlds and situations even if it can be statistically close to reality. In Between could have been a much better movie in my opinion if these over-simplifications were avoided.

Got into a cinema not expecting much, but I was rewarded with refreshing story I think many can correlate in some way, disregarding the context of where the story is taking part.It shows us three girls and their current life stories, focuses on contrast between traditional and religious on one side, and liberal on other. We follow them through Tel Aviv's nightlife where they enjoy being free, escaping their daily lives, but we also see them in front of their religious and conservative families, partners and friends. It realistically portraits a life of urban 20-somethings and their life choices and plans. It had moments where the whole cinema was laughing, and the ones when you could hear laugh from some, like-minded to the lifestyle portrayed in the scenes. But, I think everyone got disturbed by some scenes and were made to question how selfish can we be about our life choices and how much should we impose them on others.Girls bring out the weight of their situations to the viewers throughout the film. Soundtrack is fitting greatly, giving life to scenes, but remaining an independent weaver.Film is not exaggerating in any way, and it tastefully makes us conclude we all need to share more empathy and understanding.