(TC) Good girl Rachel McAdams gets steamy in ‘Disobedience’
“Disobedience” opens with an ailing Orthodox Jewish rabbi (Anton Lesser) giving what will be his last sermon, on the nature of free will, a divine gift given only to humans. As he speaks, we get sweeping shots of the devout men listening to him on the main floor — and their wives, relegated to the balcony above.
Chilean director Sebastián Lelio follows up the Oscar-winning “A Fantastic Woman” with his first English-language feature, about childhood friends — New York-based photographer Ronit (Rachel Weisz) and Esti (Rachel McAdams), a married member of the Orthodox community — who reunite in London after the death of the rabbi, Ronit’s father. It’s not an easy visit for Ronit, who fled years ago to live a secular life, primarily because of her illicit relationship with Esti.
Lelio uses color and shadow to great effect for Ronit’s claustrophobic return home, the heavy grays and browns of the household hosting shiva weighing down on her as she weaves among the mourners. None seem happy to see her except her old friend, Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), Esti’s husband.
The three leads give great performances. Nivola, as a rabbinical scholar, diplomatically but firmly pushes back against disapproving elders to welcome Ronit into his home. When attraction flares up again between her and Esti, it’s fascinating to watch the push and pull of emotion and faith — how color returns to McAdams’ pale face as she allows herself to reach out to Ronit. Their stolen afternoon in a hotel room, heavily buzzed-about on the festival circuit, is one of the more erotic cinematic sex scenes in recent memory, as physical release becomes a religious experience of sorts for both.
McAdams gives one of the best performances of her career as her character wrestles with the enormous question of whether, and how, to give up everything she’s ever known. Ultimately, this is a gently humane portrait of an enduring problem facing men and women in all manner of fundamentalist communities: the notion that choice has anything to do with who we desire.
