Israel’s International Feature Oscar entry is twentysomething Tom Nesher’s feature film debut, Come Closer, a heartfelt and deep meditation on love, grief, connection and healing.
The film centers on 20-year-old Eden (Lia Elalouf) who shares an impenetrable bond with her brother Nati (Ido Tako). But when Nati tragically dies, she falls down a rabbit hole of intense grief and soon discovers that Nati had a secret life with a girl no one knew about, Maya (Darya Rosenn),. The volatile Eden confronts shy Maya, terrifying her, but the two eventually bond over their love for Nati– and an odd, kinetic relationship forms.
The writer-director has a penetrating and fearless way of depicting the reality of grief and how we all do it quite differently.
The film is a very personal story. Nesher’s brother was killed in an accident five years ago and the sibs were very close. “We lived an adventure-filled life together,” she offers. The need to preserve his memory buoyed her to make the film.
Nesher was born in Los Angeles and graduated from the Jerusalem Sam Spiegel Film School. Prior to Come Closer, she directed four award-winning shorts and created free-form documentaries as a journalist at one of Israel’s prominent networks.
Israel holds the record for the most nominations without a win (10) and has not made the short list since 2017 (Samuel Maoz’s Foxtrot).
Come Closer world premiered at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival and is being distributed in the U.S. by Greenwich Entertainment.
The film lands in NYC theaters on December 5, 2025 and in Los Angeles on December 12, 2025.
The Contending Zoom chatted with Nesher who was in L.A. promoting the film last year.
