One of international cinema’s most fearless and provocative filmmakers, Nadav Lapid has long been an outspoken critic of his birth country’s government policies, channeling a lifetime of fury and frustration into vital films like SYNONYMS and AHED’S KNEE that brim with righteous anger, spite and shame. In YES, Lapid once again takes vigorous critical aim at the Israeli government with a new approach — submission. In the days following October 7, jazz musician Y. and his wife Yasmine, a dancer, resolve to say yes to everything. Y. and Yasmine sell their bodies and souls to the highest bidder, surrendering themselves and their art to Israel’s social, political and military elite. Soon, Y. is entrusted with a mission of the utmost importance — to compose the music for a rousing, ruthless new national anthem. Feverishly whirling between moments of satire, sincerity and complete submission, YES is a visceral, blistering indictment of nationalism, art and identity.
“The best film of the year.” —Radu Jude "A whirling, maximalist satire at once despairing and exuberant, subtle as a cannonball in its evisceration of the ruling classes and those who obey them, it’s both absurdist comedy and serious-as-cancer polemic…. It’s exhilaratingly of the moment and in the moment.” —Guy Lodge, Variety “The ultimate power of this movie’s radically different paces and modes is found in how they combine to suggest that people can’t live normally while perpetrating horror — whether in Israel or anywhere else. It’s ZONE OF INTEREST without the need for a garden wall.” —David Ehrlich, IndieWire “Convulsive, feverish, impactful…. This film says yes, a resounding yes. To what? To the desire to make cinema, even if it's impossible, even if it's monstrous.” —Elodie Tamayo, Cahiers du Cinema “If AHED’S KNEE was a scream into the void, then YES is an atom bomb thrown directly into a megaphone.” —Dan Bayer, Next Best Picture
