Nina's Tragedies

More rueful than comedic, this melodramatic Israeli dramedy from Israeli writer-director Savi Gavizon balances tart observations of love's eccentricities with the frail, introspective world of adolescent yearning. Unengaged at school and alienated from his recently separated parents, 14-year-old Nadav (Elkabets) spends most nights spying on his foxy Aunt Nina (Zurer), dutifully recording his obsessive, masturbatory fantasies in a secret diary. After Nina experiences a family tragedy, their dynamic shifts. Although some of his plot devices strain at times, Gavizon demonstrates a palpable tenderness for human shortcomings of all kinds.