Paradise Now (2005)

Paradise Now is Maria Full of Grace for the Palestinian suicide bomber. On a human level, this movie examines the political and emotional ramifications of what it is like to be selected and sent on a suicide bomber mission. From the squalor of Palestine to the love of a woman to the martyrs' vigil to the complications of a mission gone wrong, everything is presented just as it is, without bias or editorializing. As with Maria Full of Grace, you see how people are presented with choices at every turn and how simply some may be drawn into collaboration in heinous acts. The acting is so translucent as to let us see and feel what the two candidates for "martyrdom" are going through as each considers whether to quit or pull the trigger. (Sorry, political extremists, but it's not martyrdom when you are killing yourself and it's not sacrifice when you are killing others.) A riveting and challenging examination of how people make life-and-death choices in critical junctures. 5 stars.