SHOSHANA - Mark Reviews Movies

Shoshana, Greenwich Entertainment

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Review by Mark Dujsik | July 24, 2025

The scope of Shoshana is impressive, given that it covers almost a decade, multiple shifts in the political aims and alliances of a few groups and individuals, and the creation of, technically, two countries. It's a complex narrative, to say the least, and that is both a strength and a detriment for a plot that ultimately has trouble juggling all of its necessary components.

It comes down to, essentially, a love story about a star-crossed couple in Tel Aviv in the period immediately before and during World War II. That co-writer/director Michael Winterbottom doesn't seem especially interested in this romance is somewhat admirable, since the movie does have far more significant and still-pertinent ideas to examine, but it still brings us back to the major issue here. If the love story isn't as important as everything else in this narrative, why is it the way of framing this plot in the first place?

The lovers are Shoshana Borochov (Irina Starshenbaum), a reporter for a politically moderate Jewish newspaper in the city, and Thomas Wilkin (Douglas Booth), an officer with the police force acting under the authority of the British government. At the time, Tel Aviv, of course, was part of the territory known as Mandatory Palestine, made part of the wider British Empire in the aftermath of the First World War.

The screenplay, co-written by Laurence Coriat and Paul Viragh, establishes the backdrop of this quite succinctly, pointing out that the major tensions and conflicts in the region are between three parties. There are local Arab peoples who have lived here for centuries. Meanwhile, Jewish people have been moving to the area, as antisemitism rises and the philosophy of the creation of a Jewish homeland becomes more widespread. Finally, there's the British, who are seen as occupiers by the other two sides.

After being introduced to our central players, the early stages of the movie show some awareness of and consideration for that first group, as the British stamp down on Arab organization and more militant factions of Zionistic thinking target Arab men, women, and children. To say the movie forgoes that expansive view and understanding of the ethnic and religious dynamics of the region is a bit of an understatement. The script has no need for any Arab characters or group after a certain point, so it's as if they do not exist in this story from that point onward.

Instead, the plot is contained to a handful of characters. There are Shoshana and Thomas, who have started an affair—much to the suspicion and irritation of their friends, family, colleagues, and compatriots. To those who know Shoshana, Thomas is, after all, aligned with an occupying country that essentially criminalizes any Zionist organizing, even if a group disapproves of using violence to build a Jewish state, and has killed prominent leaders. It doesn't matter that Thomas himself doesn't want to become involved in such politics.

To the people associated with Thomas, Shoshana could be part of one of those violent groups, and beyond that, his relationship with her might suggest a personal bias, when his role as a government official should display neutrality in the conflict between the region's other parties. It doesn't matter that Shoshana is the daughter of a socialist Zionist who decried violence and has made her own disapproval of terrorism known.

While the lovers' connection may theoretically be the core component of the narrative, it's surprising how insignificant it starts to feel as soon as its concerns are introduced. There are more noteworthy matters and characters in the bigger picture of the politics and open conflict in Mandatory Palestine, after all. One is fellow police official Geoffrey Morton (Harry Melling), as well as the strict and brutal methods he represents in maintaining order in his jurisdiction. He's a man who believes that violence must be met in kind and, indeed, enacted before an opposing party can consider it an option. Thomas is convinced that rough police tactics, torture, and killing will only motivate more people to sympathize with and join militant groups, such as one run by Avraham Stern (Aury Alby). Avraham's public writings encourage assassinations and bombings, making him a primary target for the British authorities.

The most fascinating and compelling parts of this movie have to do with the politics of the era and the region. The war, for example, changes much, leading the British government and the most influential Zionist organization to arrive at a truce. However, Avraham continues his campaign of violence, nonetheless, even considering an alliance with Nazi Germany against their mutual foes and with the promise of a place where the Nazis can send their "undesirables." The idea that political desires and necessity can make hypocrites out of even the seemingly most devout and radicalize the most even-minded might be the main takeaway here, especially in terms of how Soshana changes from the start to the end of the narrative.

As for the framing of such complicated themes and plotting within the context of a love story, Shoshana almost sets itself up to come up short in exploring those bigger ideas. There's an inherent simplicity to the romance, no matter how difficult and tragic it may be, and compared to what the rest of the movie has to say and how it offers that story, it's a disappointing and unconvincing way of focusing much weightier material.

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