‘Sublet’ Trailer: Israeli Twist on ‘Weekend’ Brings Charm, Plus John Benjamin Hickey

“The Bubble,” “Walk on Water,” and “Yossi and Jagger” director Eytan Fox returns to the terrain of gay introspective dramas with the new film “Sublet,” which opens on June 11 in theaters from Greenwich Entertainment. It will also be available on demand on July 9. The film offers a sort of Israeli spin on “Weekend,” with a writer arriving in Tel Aviv to reflect on life and love with a younger man. John Benjamin Hickey and Niv Nissim star. Watch the trailer below.

Michael (Hickey), a travel columnist for The New York Times , goes to Tel Aviv to write an article after suffering a tragedy. He is still grieving and the loss has caused problems between him and his husband. He just wants to do his research and go home. But when he sublets an apartment from Tomer (Nissim), a young film student, he finds himself drawn into the life of the city.

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The movie is written by Eytan Fox with Itay Segal. IndieWire’s Eric Kohn reviewed the film positively last year when it premiered virtually as part of the shuttered Tribeca Film Festival: “With ‘Sublet,’ Fox continues this exploration by widening his lens, with an intimate look at the contrasting values of gay men from different generations that uses the specifics of Israeli culture to explore more universal ideas. The result is a minor-key variation on Andrew Haigh’s ‘Weekend,’ with two men from different walks of life spending their limited time together talking through opposing values and finding out why they can’t click. The dynamic between them unfolds in subtle moments and sudden bursts of sentimentalism that threaten to simplify the drama, but its leads bring such tender detail to the story to keep their evolving dynamic engaging throughout.”

He added, “With a third-act journey to Tomer’s family kibbutz, the full nature of Michael’s struggles finally come out, and his introversion falls into place. The touching, understated finale eschews a clear resolution in favor of small-scale progress: It’s a fleeting glimpse of dueling generations and cultures appreciating some common ground, even if it can’t last forever.”

Watch the trailer for “Sublet” in the video below.

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