Nicholas Jacob and Michael Aloni in Out of the Dark (2012), a love story between a Palestinian and Israeli man. Courtesy of Breaking Glass Pictures.Why can’t we all just get along? It’s the question I frustratingly wonder any time I watch a romantic drama where the two leads, completely innocent people in love, are pushed apart by their society and the people in it. It is the centuries-old Romeo and Juliet scenario. Two people “shouldn’t” be together because it goes against the status quo for – and let me be frank – really stupid reasons. Such is the case in Out in the Dark (2012), an award-winning, gut-wrenching romance about a doomed love affair between an Israeli man and Palestinian man. This Pride Month, we take a closer look at this remarkable drama.
Out in the Dark was a hit at international film festivals ten years ago, from Jewish ones to LGBTQ+ festivals, and even Philadelphia’s own International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, now called qFLIX. Critics were equally floored by this melodrama, with Rex Reed of Observer lauding it as “one of the most powerful films about the Arab-Israeli conflict ever attempted on screen.” LGBTQ+ representation onscreen – both in cinema and on television – wasn’t necessarily as mainstream in 2012 as it is today. As a child in the 2000s, if a movie or show ever featured gay characters, it was always a big deal. As a dorky film nerd in high school, I’ll never forget how vexed I would become when people would constantly make fun of Brokeback Mountain (2005) as the “gay cowboy movie.” It’s just a romance! What was the big deal? In Out in the Dark, director Michael Mayer tackles two forever contentious topics in society – homosexuality and the Arab-Israeli conflict – in an audacious manner.
Shot in a gritty way with a digital, handheld camera, Mayer’s film isn’t at all like the glamorized and pretty LGBTQ romances we’ve seen before. The movie begins like a fast-paced thriller with a young Palestinian man, Nimr (Nicholas Jacob), running at full speed to get over a fence into Tel Aviv. He goes to a gay club and catches up with Mustafa (Loai Nofi), another Palestinian who is secretly living in the city, where he also houses some other Arabs. It’s there that he catches eyes with Roy (Michael Aloni), a handsome, blue-eyed lawyer just having a night out by himself. They flirt a little and Roy offers him a drink, making the first move.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Nimr asks.
“Am I that obvious?” Roy responds.
Mayer avoids the stale, unbelievable dialogue we too commonly see in romances and crafts a genuinely sexy moment. It’s not too long that the two of them begin a passionate affair. For Roy and Nimr, Tel Aviv is the safest place for them to be themselves. Later in the film, Nimr, who currently lives in Ramallah, confesses to Roy that he’s surprised by how little discrimination he faces as a gay Palestinian in Tel Aviv. Roy laughs at the stupidity of it all.
“A d*ck is just a d*ck,” he tells him.
The beauty of this relationship is the trust Roy and Nimr have for one another. Roy doesn’t care one bit that this man is from Ramallah. He sees nothing “taboo” about his relationship. The two of them are also compatible in that their families aren’t exactly approving of their sexualities. Nimr is a psychology student living with his siblings and widowed mother. He is still in the closet, and no one is aware of his late-night visits to the city. At first, Roy seems too good to be true, but his family certainly doesn’t think so. This is evident when Roy brings his boyfriend for a pretty awkward Shabbat dinner. Roy’s mother, seemingly flustered by her son’s new boyfriend, tells him that she has learned to live with his “choices” as a gay man. “It’s not a choice to be gay!” Roy responds. His father isn’t much of a help either, reminding him that he “can’t forget” where he lives and should take responsibility for any trouble that comes his way. All this trouble, all this danger and inconvenience, just because he’s in love.
Out in the Dark certainly takes a total 180 when we discover that Nimr’s brother, Nabil (Jameel Khoury), hates Jews and is involved with some very shady individuals. He sneaks stockpiles of guns into the house at night and accompanies his gang of friends, seeking Palestinian “collaborators”, as they call them, living in the city without a permit. He is also homophobic. For Nimr, to be in love with an Israeli Jew is one thing. To be gay and in love with an Israeli Jew would mean the end of his life, an irrevocable dishonor to his family.
The story starts off relatively light and transcends into the brutal reality of this forbidden love. In an astounding performance, Nicholas Jacob tears our hearts out of our chests the more his life falls apart. We feel every bit as helpless as Nimr. Michael Aloni, who has since become one of the most accomplished Israeli actors around, is sublime as Roy, a sweet, ordinary man who stops at nothing to help the man he loves. There is one particularly brilliant scene where Roy mistakes his boyfriend for something and then instantly regrets it. Notice the look on Aloni’s face, the way he transitions from disappointment to regret so smoothly.
Throughout the pain these men endure, the film never fails to be a beautiful romance. Cinematographer Ran Aviad can shoot both intense moments with claustrophobic-inducing shots and soft, gentle moments between the two lovers. This isn’t at all a “dirty” romantic movie. When Roy and Nimr first make love, there is no excessive sexual content or over-the-top score. These men lose themselves in one another when they kiss. For once, Nimr can finally have a moment to be his true self and not worry about any consequences. Unfortunately, it’s a reality that’s all too transient. Why can’t the world just let these men live a happy life together?
Out in the Dark does a lot of things. It swoons you with its attractive romance and devastates with its repercussions. The ending may divide some people, but there’s no denying the reason for its ambiguity. There is also no denying how close the film hits to home. 10 years have passed and there is still a conflict in Israel. Homosexuality is still considered a “dishonor” for many people in the world. Like all great movies, Out in the Dark stays in your heart long after it’s finished.
Out in the Dark is now streaming on Roku and Vudu.