Kirot (2009)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Justin Y

  
  <i>Kirot</i>, from writer director Danny Lerner, covers the action with drama.<p>The English title of this picture, <i>The Assassin Next Door</i>, is on the money, and at the same time really deceiving. Most of this 1 hour 40+ minute picture is story and… More
  <i>Kirot</i>, from writer director Danny Lerner, covers the action with drama.<p>The English title of this picture, <i>The Assassin Next Door</i>, is on the money, and at the same time really deceiving. Most of this 1 hour 40+ minute picture is story and character driven with little in the way of action. The initial 2/3rds of the film travels by slowly and dramatically, which in turn, leads to a final act full of suspense and action.</p><p>There are two major positives in this movie. The first is the camera work and cinematography. Lerner employs a number of lengthy shots which make good use of its surroundings, as its characters make their way through them. The static shots are also thought out.</p><p>The second plus is the beautiful Olga Kurylenko, as she gets the chance to exhibit her versatility. Her character is an assassin, yet not a professional one; thus allowing her to be strong-willed and sensitive at the same time. Ninette Tayeb is also noteworthy for putting on a good supporting performance.</p><p><i>Kirot</i> doesn't have the pacing and writing of an exciting female assassin movie, and this is fine because that isn't what it is trying to be.</p>

• Deb S

  
  Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) gives a strong performance as a sex slave Ukrainian woman in Israel who is forced to work as an assassin, with threats of death directed at her daughter unless she follows orders precisely. There is no way to escape because her employer has her… More
  Olga Kurylenko (Quantum of Solace) gives a strong performance as a sex slave Ukrainian woman in Israel who is forced to work as an assassin, with threats of death directed at her daughter unless she follows orders precisely. There is no way to escape because her employer has her passport and money and when she attempts to make a run for it, she's captured and her even less lucky companion killed. She's kept in a cheap, dingy Tel Aviv flat by these men, a place where the screams of an abused wife echo through walls from next door. Life is bleak but eventually she strikes a friendship with Eleanor. The two women bond over their mutually grim situation as they look for a way out of their desperate lives. Both women are easy to feel sympathy for given all the onscreen battering, and we long for them to finally hit back at their abusers. Teasing frisson of same-sex attraction leads nowhere, but the tale drives right over the edge of lurid thrillerdom in a shoot-'em-up finale that has us cheering. <a href="http://tinypic.com?ref=210iq1d" target="_blank"><img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/210iq1d.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic"></a>