Review of Fill the Void (2012) by Steve W — 03 Jul 2013

Fill the Void has an interesting story premise and social commentary, however its repetitive script hinders it in the long run.

Young 18 year old Shira is about to have an arranged wedding with the Millers, but her older sister Esther dies during childbirth. Widowed husband Yochay decides to marry an old childhood widow in Belgium, taking his son with him. Shira's mother and family pressure her to marry Yochay, and that's the only the beginning.

What would seem to be a very interesting premise turns sour when the Millers decide to call off the arrangement. Now it is no longer a freedom of choice vs. arranged marriage scenario, it is simply peer pressure. There is some excellent themes of arranged marriages being a dated tradition, with an unhappy husband complaining about his mentally ill wife to the rabbi on Purim. The rabbi simply refers him to another and goes on with the others.

The pacing problem is that about halfway through the story gets very repetitive. Shira agrees to marry Yochay, and then gets cold feet. After seeing her mother cry, she agrees. Then the rabbi won't allow it since he sees Shira's displeasure. It goes back and forth and back and forth and the movie suffers because of it.

In the end, all the other aspects of the movie are strong. The acting is good, and there is an excellent usage of background noise and music to help shape scenes. Ultimately its the main narrative that loses steam, and in the end I didn't care what she decided. I was more interested in her friend Frieda, a desperate older woman also looking for a husband.