From Eran Riklis, director of minor delights THE SYRIAN BRIDE and THE LEMON TREE, ZAYTOUN sets its sights on a bigger picture both aesthetically and narratively, stripping away the layers of a once promising story to leave something lucid and snug but all too commonplace. Taking a potentially gritty depiction of friendship and loyalty at a time of war, Riklis here evokes a strong sense of period whilst teasing out a glimmer of hope from an already bleak canvas, but this is a feel good drama without the weight to fully transform it into anything beyond the mildly watchable.

Set during the conflict between Israel and Palestine in 1982, the film stars Abdallah El Akal as Fahed, a cocksure young orphan and refugee striving to return to his family’s home in now-occupied Palestine. Quickly rising in the ranks of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Fahed is as much a victim of circumstance as he is a boy stripped of his childhood, his football replaced by a gun in a battlefield which he sees as nothing more than a playground.

An uneasy bond is forged as they covertly manoeuvre through war-torn Lebanon…

As the conflict between the two regions heightens, Yoni, an Israeli pilot played by Stephen Dorff, crash-lands and becomes captured in Beirut. Fahed’s instinctive hatred of Israel quickly thaws as the two make a deal to help return one other to their respective homes. An uneasy bond is forged as they covertly manoeuvre through war-torn Lebanon, braving the harsh terrain and constant threat of attack as they make their way towards refuge.

Pitching this ugly struggle against handsome, sun-drenched backdrops, ZAYTOUN is as visually appealing as the story is positive, charting a slow-burning friendship that becomes all the more tender as the film goes on. Yet, as elements gradually become softer, so too do the events that transpire to waylay the two protagonist’s pursuit of their destination; for instance, a sequence where the two unwittingly stumble upon a minefield is robbed of any danger simply because it just ends. This inability to fully embrace the jeopardy of the characters’ situation is repeated throughout the film, offering diminishing thrills as it bounds towards a delayed and conventional finale.