A highly visible elephant in the room here is the accidental death of writer/director Tom Nesher's teenage brother, who was the son of one of Israel's most prominent moviemakers. At a preview screening, Tom Nesher noted that one incident the movie reproduces from real life is that after the fatal accident, the dead boy's sister looks through his belongings in hopes of finding some surprise. In real life, she didn't fine one, but in the movie she does. It turns out he had a serious girlfriend. (If you saw "The Cakemaker," you may guess what's coming.)
The character who, as the sister, is Tom Nesher's counterpart (yes, Tom Nesher is a woman) is, does not, we may be thankful, represent an idealized version of Nesher herself. In fact, she is not very likeable, and since she is the protagonist, the movie is a bit the harder to enjoy until we become reconciled to her. Although she's said to have been very close to her brother, there's not much material to demonstrate their closeness and thus win the audience's sympathy before the accident occurs.
As the movie progresses, the sister and the previously unknown girlfriend help one another, or exploit one another, in the attempt to retain the boy somehow as part of their lives. Nesher says she spent a lot of time preparing the actresses, and she incorporated contributions from them-- partly because as a former newsperson she believes in the importance of background. And the effort paid off with awards at Tribeca and in Jerusalem.
