An accident during a bar mitzvah celebration leads to a gendered rift in a devout Orthodox community in Jerusalem, in this rousing, good-hearted tale about women speaking truth to patriarchal power.
The film has crafted an essentially benevolent comic universe where everyone is goodhearted - or at least, they are who they are, and there's not much to do about it.
The Women's Balcony resolves its central conflict a bit too quickly and neatly, but the theme of battle for the soul of a community resonates - at least with many American critics, who have praised the movie's "universal" themes.