Stylish but barely mediocre overall

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Good photography, editing and presentation but the content can only be described as mediocre. With a caveat: As to the current circumstances and situation, it does a fairly good job, but much of the history is mere repetition of propaganda generated and perpetuated over the years. As an example, it states that the Israelis were attacked by the Arabs in 1948, after the declaration of statehood. However, it's exactly the opposite, it was the Zionist forces that began the takeover and ethnic cleansing of Palestine immediately following the UN Partition Resolution (Nov. 29, 1947), even going far beyond the lines designated in UN 181 (which ultimately resulted in armistice lines subsequently known either as the "1949 lines" or the "1967 lines"). The "war" as such didn't begin on May 15, 1948 (declaration of statehood) as evidenced by the fact that seizing territory by force of arms -- including massacres, pillaging, expulsions, rape and atrocities on civilian populations -- took place well before that date. Deir Yassin, the most widely known example, took place on April 9, 1948. Also, with few exceptions, the Arabs did not fight WITHIN the lines delineated in UN 181, they were actually under orders NOT to (the fighting within the lines was mostly with Palestinian irregulars, whose towns, villages and fields were threatened). The assertion that the Israelis were attacked on May 15, 1948 is a blatant falsehood generated as propaganda and reiterated ad nauseam over the years. When the Arab League forces attacked, they attacked within PALESTINIAN territory, in defense of that territory and its people. They did NOT attack what became known as "Israel" on May 15, 1948. In short, the Zionists were not the persecuted victims they portrayed themselves to be, quite the opposite. The producers would have done well to have this material fact checked, rather than recycling once more the old, tired and demonstrably false propaganda we've been exposed to over the years.