Sundance Review: All That’s Left of You offers a poignant examination of years of Palestinian suffering.

      A vast and compelling drama that begins with the establishment of the state of Israel and the resulting displacement of Palestinian families in Jaffa, and concludes just two years before the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, Cherien Dabis’ All That’s Left of You explores generational trauma on both an intimate and grand scale. Spanning over seventy years in the life of the Hammad family, orange growers who were forced off their land in Jaffa in 1948, the film serves as a lens through which to understand the decades of Palestinian anguish intertwined with the profound Jewish trauma of the Holocaust. Ultimately, the film evolves from a place of anger into a plea for reconciliation, culminating in a poignant ending that respects the weight of both generational traumas, landing in an area of unexpected complexity.

      At its core, the film depicts a family that is calm yet justifiably enraged, faced with an impossible choice: should they abandon their ancestral land or remain and hope for a change for the better? Their faith is consistently tested when even simple errands, like going out to fetch medicine, can become life-threatening in an occupied territory where young IDF soldiers conveniently dehumanize a man and his child. This sequence may reflect harsh realities but lacks the subtlety that the film aims to convey.

      The story opens in the West Bank around 1988, featuring Noor (Muhammad Abed Elrahman), a teenage boy caught in a conflict, spurred on by his grandfather whose orange groves were taken by the new state of Israel in 1948, despite his collaboration with the mayor on a surrender plan. Traumatized by an event from a decade earlier when an IDF soldier pointed a gun at his peaceful father, teacher Salim (Saleh Bakri), forcing him to utter unthinkable words about his mother, Noor begins to resist his elders. His involvement in an uprising triggers a series of events for Salim and his wife Hanan (writer/director Dabis) as they grapple with a deliberately complex bureaucratic process to transfer their son to a trauma hospital in modern-day Haifa, arriving only to discover they are too late.

      Spanning nearly 150 minutes and covering 75 years, the narrative explores the chain of events leading to the shooting of Noor and his choice to join the conflict. Raised by his grandfather and uprooted from their once-beautiful family orchard, Noor grows resentful of a father solely trying to safeguard his family. Salim, a boy in 1948, belongs to the middle generation, tending to a father who was imprisoned by Israeli forces and carries psychological scars from that experience. Salim also escaped amidst shelling, dealing with the trauma of being separated from his father, who hurriedly sent his family to safety in a harrowing early scene.

      By nature, Salim is not a fighter but an intellectual from a young age. A sensitive child with a love for reading, he eventually becomes a teacher. Both he and his father Sharif (played by Adam Bakri as a younger man) keep their children occupied with games, life lessons, and guidance as Sharif ages filled with rage and regret. These moments evoke memories of poignant short films from Palestine’s 2025 Oscars selection, specifically the omnibus shorts program From Ground Zero, where teachers help young people in Gaza cope with unimaginable realities through art and distraction.

      Visually striking thanks to Christopher Aoun's cinematography, the film combines the essence of an expansive saga—especially in the 1948 segments that resonate with the vibe of classic Hollywood epics—with the intimacy of a personal drama, as Salim and Hanan set aside their anger and trauma to seek spiritual solace. While the film does encounter a few missteps and moments of inconsistency, All That’s Left of You, akin to Walter Salles’ outstanding I’m Still Here, employs its lengthy narrative to impart a sense of closure as Salim and Hanan reflect on their lives, circumstances, and what they ultimately deem to be just and right. In the end, they discover comfort in their exile, choosing a path distinct from that of the elder Sharif (Mohammad Bakri as an older man) while still yearning for the past.

      Directed by Palestinian-American actress Dabis, All That’s Left of You is a stirring, empathetic drama that is likely to resonate with audiences worldwide as a film centered on internal conflict. The film shines most when focusing on Salim and Hanan as they navigate 75 years filled with a desire for peace and a consuming anger, which is both a radical and heartbreaking response.

      All That’s Left of You made its debut at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

      Grade: B+