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Eyes Wide Open (Eynaim Pekukhot)

There’s danger lurking in the closed, Ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem community of Meah Shearim. Aaron is a butcher getting on with his devout but uneventful life as a no-nonsense father of four. One day a stranger enters his shop; a handsome but homeless Yeshiva student named Ezri, shrouded in a mysterious past. Not wanting the boy to live on the street, Aaron offers him a job as his apprentice, allows him to sleep in the back of his shop, and invites him to dinner with his family. The seductive Ezri (played by Israeli heartthrob Ran Danker) urges Aaron to accompany him to an isolated ritual bath. Suddenly, Aaron is seized by a passion unlike any he has ever known. As he begins to neglect his family and the life of the community for his love of Ezri, his wife Rivka alerts the “Modesty Guards,” a radical Orthodox law authority. Soon the anonymous protest posters known as pashkavils begin appearing on walls, announcing that there are sinners close at hand. Aaron, already tormented by guilt, realizes he faces a wrenching decision in EYES WIDE OPEN. (In Hebrew with subtitles) – B.B.