SHREWSBURY FILM
| Director | Nir Bergman |
|---|---|
| Country | Israel |
| Year | 2020 |
Premiered at Cannes 2020 and screened at Toronto, Here We Are was also Israel’s nominee in multiple categories at the Ophir Awards. Dana Idisis based the script on her own life, having grown up alongside an autistic younger brother, and previously co–created On the Spectrum, bringing deep authenticity to the portrayal.
Aharon (Shai Avivi) has sacrificed his career to care for his adult autistic son, Uri (Noam Imber), fostering a gentle domestic routine. When Uri’s mother, Tamara, supported by social services, insists he move into a specialist residential facility, the fragile equilibrium fractures. On the day of transfer, Uri panics; Aharon reacts instinctively — they flee, embarking on a road trip that forces both father and son to confront their co–dependency, autonomy, and love.
Avivi and Imber deliver superb performances, portraying Aharon’s protectiveness (bordering on smothering), and Uri’s gentle, routine–bound world with rare sensitivity. Imber’s depiction — routine–driven obsession (pasta stars, Chaplin’s The Kid, fear of snails) — is underpinned by naturalistic attention to autistic behaviours. Avivi, as Aharon, embodies a father torn between love and fear — his identity subsumed in caregiving, shown in scenes such as preventing an embarrassing moment at a hotel pool with discreet tenderness and gravity.
The film balances a road–movie’s physical movement with an emotional stasis: Aharon and Uri are escaping not just social services, but the emotional convulsions of change. As The Guardian review notes, “a cinematic story becomes paradoxically more universal by being very specific about people and places” — intimacy becomes its universality. It is unsentimental yet deeply moving; its emotional power lies in restraint, especially in the final half hour, “quietly devastating.”
The narrative unfolds with stingy backstory — minimal exposition leaves much unsaid, inviting the viewer to fill in the emotional lacunae. Bergman’s gaze is unobtrusive but precise: details like Uri’s DVDs, pasta preferences, or freak fear of snails deliver character rather than exposition. Chaplin’s The Kid is used both as motif and echo — its father–son refuge mirrored in Aharon’s own — heightening poignant resonance.
The film gently disrupts common autism tropes. Rather than inspiring “Rain Man–style” brilliance, Uri is portrayed as himself — full of quirks, desires, fears, not a diagnosis. It also examines parental letting go, the emotional labour of caregiving that outlives childhood, especially viewed through Aharon’s reluctance and Uri’s gentle dependence.
Reviews consistently highlight the film’s honesty, emotional clarity, and strong central performances — We Are Movie Geeks called it “a wonderful, moving film experience… one well worth seeking out.” Jewish Film Review describes it as “deeply moving… devoid of any sentimentality or crassness.”
In an effort to reduce our paper usage, we stopped offering printed copies of our popular Film Notes at our screenings.
Instead, we are encouraging our members to read the Film Notes online. For those who wish to do so, it is still possible to print these pages prior to the film.
Alternatively, if you want to read the notes just before or just after the film, and also minimise your paper consumption, then you can scan the QR code to your phone and then download the webpage.
