One Week and a Day is a 2016 Israeli film directed by Asaph Polonsky which takes a darkly comedic look at the grieving process and coming to with the loss of a loved one. The film follows the story of Eyal and Vicky, two parents who have just buried their 25-year-old son, Ronnie. Eyal is a man stuck in denial and unable to confront his feelings while Vicky has already begun the process of moving on.
Eyal is played by Shai Avivi, a well-known Israeli actor and comedian, while Vicky is played by Sharon Alexander, who also starred in the popular Israeli TV series Srugim. These two actors give moving performances, effectively portraying the emotional roller coaster that the couple is going through after the death of their child.
The film begins on the day of Ronnie's funeral, with Eyal and Vicky receiving condolences from friends and family. Throughout the day, the couple struggles to cope with their grief in different ways. Vicky busies herself with tasks such as returning sympathy cards while Eyal is unable to leave the couch, watching TV and refusing to engage with his wife's attempts at conversation.
Over the course of the next week, Eyal continues to struggle with his loss, shutting out Vicky and their neighbor who tries to help him. Meanwhile, Vicky returns to work as a nurse and makes a surprising new friend in one of her patients. As the days , it becomes clear that Eyal is not coping at all, while Vicky is slowly beginning to move on with her life.
Despite the heavy subject matter, One Week and a Day is not a depressing film. There are plenty of moments of levity and humor, such as when Eyal steals his son's medical marijuana to deal with his own anxiety. The film also manages to avoid the usual tropes of grief and loss in cinema, instead focusing on the more mundane aspects of life that continue despite tragedy.
Tomer Capone, who plays the couple's stoner neighbor, provides some of the film's most memorable scenes. Although he is not a major character, his presence provides a much-needed distraction from the heavy emotions of the main plot. Capone's comedic timing and delivery are spot-on, and he provides a much-needed source of laughter for the audience.
Director Asaph Polonsky does an excellent job of weaving together the different threads of the story, from Eyal's grief to Vicky's attempts to move on. The film is shot in a realistic style that perfectly captures the mundanity of everyday life, and the performances from the actors are uniformly excellent. Overall, One Week and a Day is a moving and poignant film that deals with the difficult subject of grief in a nuanced and realistic way.
One Week and a Day is a 2016 comedy with a runtime of 1 hour and 38 minutes. It has received mostly positive reviews from critics and viewers, who have given it an IMDb score of 6.7 and a MetaScore of 72.