DISOBEDIENCE (2017)

The Intersection of Faith and Forbidden Desire: Sebastián Lelio's Disobedience (2017)

Cinema has a vast, well-documented history of depicting the explosive clash between rigid religious dogma and the messy reality of personal liberation. However, very few films manage to navigate this delicate, emotionally volatile intersection with the profound empathy, intellectual rigor, and nuanced restraint found in Sebastián Lelio’s magnificent 2017 drama, Disobedience. Adapted from the critically acclaimed novel by British author Naomi Alderman, the film serves as a quiet, devastating exploration of what it genuinely means to choose your own path in a community that actively demands total conformity. It is a story where physical love is not merely framed as a romantic or sexual pursuit, but as a deeply radical act of spiritual defiance.

The narrative orbits around Ronit Krushka (played with sharp, defensive brilliance by Rachel Weisz, who also produced the film). Ronit is a successful, fiercely secular photographer living an independent life in New York City. Her existence is violently interrupted when she is called back to the insular, deeply traditional Orthodox Jewish community of North London following the sudden collapse and death of her father, the community's revered Rav (Rabbi). Her return to her childhood home is not met with warmth; rather, she is treated with an icy, suspicious politeness. She is the prodigal daughter—the exile who willingly abandoned her faith and her family.

The narrative tension immediately centers on her fraught reunion with Dovid (Alessandro Nivola), her father’s chosen spiritual successor, and Esti (Rachel McAdams), Ronit’s childhood best friend. In Ronit's absence, Dovid and Esti have married, becoming the devout, idealized couple of the congregation. However, what begins as a traditional mourning period quickly unearths a deeply suppressed, passionate romantic history between the two women. The film meticulously details the fallout of this reignited flame within a society that has absolutely no theological or social framework to accommodate it.

A Triptych of Unprecedented Empathy

The true brilliance of Disobedience lies in its steadfast refusal to vilify the Orthodox community or its patriarchal figures. In a lesser, more conventional Hollywood film, Dovid would undoubtedly be painted as a cruel, tyrannical husband holding Esti hostage through religious guilt. Instead, Lelio and co-writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz paint him with agonizing humanity. Nivola plays Dovid as a fundamentally decent man—a scholar who deeply loves his wife and is entirely devoted to his faith, yet suddenly finds himself paralyzed by a reality he is ill-equipped to understand. The central conflict of the film is not a simplistic battle of good versus evil; it is the tragic collision of three deeply flawed, fundamentally good people who are trapped by the unyielding parameters of their beliefs and their history together.

Opposite him, Rachel McAdams delivers what is arguably the most complex and heartbreaking performance of her career as Esti. Beneath her modest clothing, the required sheitel (wig), and her composed, submissive demeanor is a woman who is quietly vibrating with a lifetime of repressed desire. Esti has spent her entire adult life attempting to mold herself into the perfect wife and believer, actively choosing to view her attraction to Ronit as an affliction—a spiritual test to be cured through prayer and marital duty. When Ronit returns, Esti’s carefully constructed psychological fortress begins to violently crack. The stark contrast between Ronit’s loud, defiant freedom and Esti’s quiet, suffocating obedience creates a magnetic, undeniable tension that anchors the entire film.

The Theology of Free Will: To Be Human is to Choose

Lelio masterfully frames the romantic drama within a deeply philosophical context. The film’s opening scene features Ronit’s father delivering a powerful, commanding sermon on the concept of free will, essentially establishing the thematic core of the movie before the title card even drops. The Rav states that God created three types of beings: angels, who possess no free will and can only obey; beasts, who possess no free will and can only act on instinct; and human beings, who are torn between the two, blessed and cursed with the power to choose.

Therefore, according to the theology presented, to be human is to struggle. It is the capacity for choice that brings humanity closer to the divine. By the film's breathtaking, emotionally shattering conclusion, Disobedience powerfully suggests that stepping outside the established rules—choosing a life of authentic truth over mandated, hollow conformity—is not a rejection of the divine. Rather, true "disobedience" may actually be the ultimate realization of the free will that God bestowed upon humanity. It is an argument that true faith cannot exist without the freedom to walk away from it.

★ Hidden Details

Did you know? Sebastián Lelio shot Disobedience with the explicit collaboration of the Orthodox Jewish community it depicts. To ensure the film did not fall into caricature, the production consulted heavily with rabbinical advisors and former members of the North London Orthodox community on everything from ritual accuracy to proper modesty in costuming. Furthermore, the film's famous, visceral hotel intimacy scene between Weisz and McAdams was entirely storyboarded by the actresses themselves, who wanted to ensure the sequence felt emotionally raw, historically grounded in their characters' past, and completely devoid of the male gaze typical of mainstream lesbian cinema.

The Cinematography of Confinement and Release

Director Sebastián Lelio and acclaimed cinematographer Danny Cohen use the visual language of the film to subconsciously underscore the emotional confinement of the characters. North London is painted in drab, oppressive grays, muted blues, and cold winter lighting. The rigid structures of the religious community are reflected directly in the camera framing; Ronit and Esti are frequently shot in tight, claustrophobic spaces, boxed in by heavy wooden doorways, narrow hallways, and the ever-present gaze of their neighbors.

This visual suffocation makes their eventual escape all the more powerful. It isn’t until Ronit and Esti retreat to a generic, corporate hotel room in Central London—a liminal space completely devoid of history, religious iconography, or community judgment—that the color palette finally warms up. The lighting becomes softer, the camera movements become fluid, and the film finally allows both the characters and the audience to take a deep, unrestricted breath. The famous intimacy sequence that follows is remarkable not for its explicitness, but for its desperate, emotional urgency.

Why We Curate This Masterpiece at Sharing The Sickness

At Sharing The Sickness, our curated archive focuses on films that boldly challenge the viewer, push boundaries, and explore the darkest, most complex corners of the human condition. Mainstream platforms frequently bury films that tackle religious trauma and LGBTQ+ themes with such unflinching honesty. We do not host these video files; rather, we proudly embed this stream from third-party servers to ensure that this vital, challenging piece of modern cinema remains fully accessible to those who seek it.

Disobedience is a cinematic masterclass in subtlety, emotional intelligence, and respect for its subjects. It does not offer its audience easy answers or neatly tied-up conclusions, but it does offer profound grace. Watch the embedded broadcast of this beautifully crafted drama, and witness a story that proves the most radical, disobedient act a person can commit is to simply be true to themselves in a world that demands otherwise.

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