Director Esty Shushan provides a rare look at Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Haredi community from a woman’s perspective. The film doesn’t romanticise its subject, but instead explores the tensions within the community—particularly the challenges women face in balancing faith, family, and personal freedom. At its centre is Ruth’s quiet, gradual journey after the death of her son. Her grief cannot be expressed through the familiar rituals of her community. In a key moment, she says, “I’m not sure if I want to be healed.” With this, she makes it clear that healing is never straightforward, but instead a difficult, often resistant process—one that may never truly end.
The director’s own biography adds a political dimension to the film. In 2012, Esty Shushan founded the feminist movement “Lo Nivcharot, Lo Bocharot” (Hebrew: “Not Elected, Not Voting”), which criticises the systematic exclusion of women from candidacy by ultra-Orthodox parties. Ruth’s story thus also asks what freedom of action women actually have within these strictly regulated religious communities.