Fill the Void (2013)
82%RT Audience Score: 70%
Awards & Nominations: 14 wins & 16 nominations
Graceful, complex, and beautifully layered, Fill the Void offers a sympathetic portrait of an insulated culture by exploring universal themes
Fill the Void is a movie that will make you feel like you’re part of a close-knit community, even if you’re just watching it from your couch. The film does an excellent job of capturing the daily rituals and traditions of the Hasidic community, and the characters are so well-rounded that you’ll feel like you know them personally. Plus, the last five minutes are so enigmatic that you’ll be left pondering the themes of innocence, guilt, and attraction long after the credits roll. Overall, Fill the Void is a must-watch for anyone who loves a good drama with heart and soul.
Production Company(ies)
Ferndale Films, Granada Television, Hell’s Kitchen Films,
Distributor
Sony Pictures Classics
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Tel Aviv, Israel
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG for mild thematic elements and brief smoking
Year of Release
2012
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital
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Aspect ratio:2.35 : 1
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Runtime:1h 30m
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Language(s):Hebrew
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Country of origin:Israel
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): May 24, 2013 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 24, 2013
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
Fill the Void, PG, Drama, 1h 30m, Hadas Yaron, Yiftach Klein, Irit Sheleg, Chayim Sharir, Rama Burshtein, Assaf Amir, written by Rama Burshtein, box office gross $1.8M, reviewed by Larushka Ivan-Zadeh, Jonathan Romney, Mark Kermode, Peter Bradshaw, Robbie Collin, Antonia Quirke, directed by Rama Burshtein, produced by Assaf Amir, Sony Pictures Classics, Hebrew, arranged marriage, Orthodox Jewish community, family, sacrifice, loss, self-sacrifice, importance of family, female agency, patriarchy, mild thematic elements, brief smoking, limited release, streaming on Sep 24, 2013, rent/buy from $2.99
Worldwide gross: $3,197,615
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $4,122,443
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,228
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 449,558
US/Canada gross: $1,775,316
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $2,288,781
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,001
US/Canada opening weekend: $59,164
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $76,276
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 2,046
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Yiftach Klein – Yochay
Irit Sheleg – Rivka
Chayim Sharir – Rabbi Aharon
Hila Feldman – Frieda
Renana Raz – Esther
Director(s)
Rama Burshtein
Writer(s)
Rama Burshtein
Producer(s)
Assaf Amir
Film Festivals
Sundance, Venice, Toronto
Awards & Nominations
14 wins & 16 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (74) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (8)
[Rama] Burshtein oppressively captures the claustrophobia of a close-knit community where every daily act – from opening a door to eating – is a religious ritual.
September 6, 2017 | Rating: 3/5
Larushka Ivan-Zadeh
metro.co.uk
TOP CRITIC
As opposed to the bleak view of sexual subjugation in Kadosh, Amos Gitai’s 1999 film about Hasidic marriage, Fill the Void sees Burshtein fortrightly and wittily asserting that this is how her community lives.
February 6, 2014
Jonathan Romney
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
An intelligent and moving examination of the possibilities of personal freedom within the strict confines of religion and tradition.
December 16, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Mark Kermode
Observer (UK)
TOP CRITIC
There is perhaps something ultimately undeveloped about it, but the film is a well acted, well presented piece of work.
December 12, 2013 | Rating: 3/5
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian
TOP CRITIC
Fill the Void is as well-versed in the rules of matchmaking as a Jane Austen novel, and it bends them as artfully as wicker.
December 12, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Robbie Collin
Daily Telegraph (UK)
TOP CRITIC
Its last five minutes are so extraordinarily enigmatic, you’re certain the subject of innocence, guilt and attraction has been addressed on a deep level.
December 12, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
Antonia Quirke
Financial Times
TOP CRITIC
While Burshtein does offer up that sense of reverence and communal commitment, she doesn’t idealize the community and isn’t afraid to show the more business aspects of Purim.
September 7, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4.0
Richard Propes
TheIndependentCritic.com
Steeped in tradition, religion and ritual, Fill The Void fills a void in cinema with warmth and insight into the mysteries of love and life.
November 27, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
Almost all of the film’s characters are so well-rounded, and their personal and moral nagging so well-defined, that every single shot feels full of life and vitality. Most commendable of all, Burshtein treats her subject with delicacy.
March 6, 2019 | Rating: 3/5
Marco Duse
CineVue
For better or worse, Burshtein elides a specific critique of the religious ideology that has forced Shira into marriage in the first place.
December 17, 2018
Stephen Saito
Moveable Fest
Fill the Void is an astonishing film, a masterful piece of art that feels like the work of an established veteran but is instead the debut of a woman who, like the married women in her film, sees her family as the center of her life.
November 21, 2018 | Rating: 4/4
Kelly Jane Torrance
Washington Examiner
Burhstein’s slow-paced, carefully edited work illuminates concepts of filial piety, female agency, and patriarchy.
October 5, 2016
Olivia Saperstein
Bust Magazine…
Plot
After a young Hasidic woman dies in childbirth, her sister is asked to cancel her upcoming marriage and marry her widowed brother-in-law instead, exploring themes of personal freedom within the strict confines of religion and tradition.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The film features Hadas Yaron in the lead role as Shira.
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