The Loners

The dangers inherent in pledging one’s loyalty – indeed one’s entire existence – to a foreign power is highlighted in this functional, reality-inspired Israeli drama. Agrounov and Ostrovsky play a pair of Russian Jews whose decision to join the Israeli army backfires when they’re accused of selling arms to Hezbollah and shipped off to military prison following the most perfunctory trial. The acting is strong and the locations suitably oppressive, but the script fails to dig right to the heart of the issues it wants to explore, and the film ultimately descends into just another gritty prison drama.