In the mid ‘80s, a bizarre plot was hatched to evacuate thousands of Ethiopian Jews, from Sudan to Israel, by way of a fake resort on a coastal beach. Ethiopian rebel groups worked with Israeli Mossad agents to pull it off, saving countless lives.
It’s a harrowing tale that most agree deserves a serious retelling, staying as close to reality as possible… as even that reality is hard to believe at points.
Red Sea Diving Resort, written and directed by Gideon Raff (known for Prisoners of War, Homeland, and Dig), is what we got. And while the critics carved into it like a holiday turkey, audiences, by and large, have voted the film far less harshly.
Raff, himself a Jew from Israel, felt it important to convey the importance of the Ethiopian rebels; however it cannot be overstated how jarring it is at times to see so much attention instead being given to the entirely white Mossad crew who appear to be doing all the saving–in one instance, Chris Evans channeling his inner Captain America to save a small boy from certain death.
And that’s not the only place where the film falters, and yet, there’s still a lot of good in it.
Let us know your thoughts.
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