I saw the Road Between Us yesterday and it is a necessarily hard watch with live-streamed Hamas GoPro footage from Oct 7 and documentary footage interspersed that tells the amazing story of a grandfather and retired Colonel who risked everything on Oct 7 to save his family from Hamas terrorists.
The film recounts the initial confusion & terror as residents faced Hamas invasion, the failure of the IDF military response for hours, heavy bombardment & gunfire in pitch black conditions, & the unrelenting efforts of retired Major General Noam Tibon to rescue his family.
Its themes are of the resilience & courage of the family, soldiers & civilians alike,
of the feeling of vulnerability & betrayal upon realization that the government & military wasn’t coming & you’re on your own; true abandonment,
of the human cost of conflict with personal stories of the fear of the day, the lasting impact of the loss, & the psychological impact during & after the attack,
of the sense of community, solidarity, & lasting bonds that form from shared traumatic experiences,
of the ongoing search for answers & justice from a government & military which failed so many, & the longing & need for the return of hostages, & how accountability is necessary before true healing,
and of the power of storytelling, with the documentary itself serving as a lasting and evidentiary piece of bearing witness to the horrific events or Oct 7 which must never be forgotten nor minimized.
You can’t help but imagine yourself & your family in the situations of those presented in the documentary, from grandparents longing to save their kids & grandchildren, of the wife of a security officer, of wounded civilians, of fearful children. The documentary places YOU there.
And seeing it yesterday, after the signing of a ceasefire deal and just days before the release of all remaining hostages, both living and dead, was truly poignant, especially with the film ending with an outlook on the uncertainty of the hostages’ collective future.
It’s an incredible documentary. Highly recommended.
5/5
