It starts with a game. A role-playing game between a 12-year-old girl and her stepfather. On paper, that sounds innocent enough, maybe even sweet. But within the first ten minutes of the Princess 2014 Israeli movie, you realize something is deeply, fundamentally wrong. The air in the room feels heavy. You want to look away, but the filmmaking is so precise that you can’t.
Honestly, calling Princess a "drama" feels like an understatement. It’s a psychological tightrope walk. Tali Shalom-Ezer, making her feature directorial debut here, didn't just make a movie about a dysfunctional family; she created a claustrophobic dreamscape where the boundaries of childhood and adulthood don't just blur—they dissolve.
The Plot That Most People Get Wrong
People often talk about this film as if it’s a standard "coming-of-age" story. It isn't. Not really.
Adar is 12. She lives in a sun-drenched, somewhat messy apartment in Israel with her mother, Alma, and her stepfather, Michael. Her mother is a doctor, overworked and perpetually exhausted, which leaves Adar alone with Michael. This is where the Princess 2014 Israeli movie gets difficult. Michael and Adar play games. They swap roles. He becomes the child; she becomes the adult. Then they swap back.
It’s predatory. But the movie doesn't use the language of a "Very Special Episode" or a procedural crime drama. Instead, it uses the logic of a fairytale—the dark, original kind where the forest is actually dangerous.
Then comes Alan. He’s a boy Adar meets who looks exactly like her. Like, eerily similar. Some viewers argue he’s a physical person; others think he’s a psychological manifestation of Adar’s fracturing sense of self. Personally? I think the movie intentionally keeps that ambiguous because when your reality is being warped by an adult you trust, the line between what is "real" and what is "imagined" becomes a survival mechanism.
Shira Haas and the Performance That Started It All
You probably know Shira Haas from Unorthodox or Shtisel. She’s a powerhouse. But if you want to see where that raw, vibrating intensity came from, you have to go back to the Princess 2014 Israeli movie.
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She was 16 or 17 when they filmed this, playing younger, and she has this quality—this "deer in the headlights but the deer is also a hunter" vibe—that is impossible to fake.
- She uses her eyes to convey things the script doesn't dare say out loud.
- The chemistry between her and Ori Pfeffer (who plays Michael) is genuinely nauseating.
- It’s a masterclass in "uncomfortable cinema."
Pfeffer is also terrifyingly good because he doesn't play Michael as a mustache-twirling villain. He plays him as a man who is deeply "kinda" pathetic. He’s charismatic and soft, which makes the grooming process feel all the more realistic and horrifying. You see why Alma (played by Keren Mor) stays. You see how the domestic routine masks the rot.
Why the Cinematography Feels Like a Fever Dream
Radek Ladczuk, the cinematographer who worked on The Babadook, shot this film. If you’ve seen The Babadook, you know how he handles space. In the Princess 2014 Israeli movie, he uses the bright Israeli sun to create a sense of exposure rather than warmth.
The apartment is full of dust motes and harsh light. It feels like a greenhouse where things are growing too fast and turning sour.
There’s this one sequence where the camera just lingers on Adar’s face as she realizes the "game" has gone too far. It’s a long take. No cuts. Just the slow realization of a child losing her innocence in real-time. It’s brutal. The camera doesn't blink. That’s the thing about Tali Shalom-Ezer’s direction—she refuses to give the audience an easy out.
The Controversy and the Sundance Effect
When Princess premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 (after its 2014 Israeli release), it sparked a lot of debate. Some critics found it too transgressive. Others called it a masterpiece of psychological insight.
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The main point of contention is often the "Alan" character. Is he a twin? A ghost? A hallucination?
- Some say he represents the boy Adar wishes she could be—safe from Michael's gaze.
- Others see him as a literalized version of her internal dialogue.
- The most grim interpretation? He’s the personification of her trauma, a way to displace what is happening to her onto "someone else."
Regardless of where you land, the Princess 2014 Israeli movie forces you to engage with the concept of "splitting" as a coping mechanism for childhood abuse. It’s not an easy watch, but it’s an essential one for anyone interested in how cinema can depict the internal lives of children.
Is It "Exploitative" or "Art"?
This is the big question that always follows movies like this. Think Léon: The Professional or Lolita.
But Princess feels different. It feels like it’s told from the inside looking out. It’s not voyeuristic; it’s empathetic. It captures the weird, specific language that families develop—the inside jokes that turn into something darker. It shows how a mother’s exhaustion can create a vacuum that a predator is all too happy to fill.
Alma isn't a "bad" mother in the traditional sense. She isn't hitting Adar. She isn't neglecting her basic needs. But she is willfully blind. That's a specific kind of pain that the Princess 2014 Israeli movie explores better than almost any other film in recent memory.
How to Watch It Today (And What to Expect)
If you’re looking for this film, it’s often available on specialized streaming platforms like MUBI or through VOD services.
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Don't go into it expecting a thriller. There are no jump scares. There is no courtroom climax where the bad guy gets hauled away in handcuffs. The ending is... well, it’s haunting. It leaves you with more questions than answers, which is exactly how a film about the fragmentation of identity should end.
Basically, if you’re a fan of psychological realism and you can handle heavy themes, this is a must-watch. If you’re looking for light entertainment, stay far, far away.
Understanding the Visual Language of Adar’s World
To truly "get" the Princess 2014 Israeli movie, you have to pay attention to the costumes. Adar spends much of the film in a state of undress or wearing clothes that don't quite fit her. It’s a visual representation of her vulnerability.
The contrast between the "Princess" of the title and the reality of her life is the central irony. She isn't being pampered; she’s being consumed.
Final Insights for the Viewer
When you sit down to watch the Princess 2014 Israeli movie, keep these specific things in mind to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch the background. Often, the most telling parts of the story are happening in the corners of the frame—Alma moving in the kitchen while Michael and Adar "play" in the living room.
- The Alan Parallel. Notice how Alan’s interactions with Adar mirror her interactions with Michael, but in a way that allows her to take back control.
- The Sound Design. The film is remarkably quiet. The silence emphasizes the isolation of the characters.
Next Steps for Deepening Your Understanding:
After watching, read up on "dissociative identity" in children. It provides a massive amount of context for why the character of Alan exists and why the film chooses to tell the story through a surrealist lens rather than a literal one. You might also want to compare this to Shalom-Ezer’s later work, like My Days of Mercy, to see how her fascination with complex, taboo relationships has evolved over her career.
Check the content warnings before diving in. This isn't just "dark"—it’s a deep dive into the mechanics of grooming. It’s a film that stays with you, for better or worse, long after the credits roll.