The Secrets

The Secrets (Ha-Sodot) is a 2007 Israeli film, directed by Avi Nesher and written by playwright Hadar Galron.

Naomi, a brilliant young Ultra-Orthodox woman, persuades her father to allow her to put off her impending wedding so she can attend a women's seminary in Safed, a Jewish holy city in Israel. When she and her roommate, the rebellious Michelle, are assigned to bring food to Anouk, a dying Frenchwoman, they are drawn closer as they work together to develop purification rituals for Anouk, who wishes to atone for her past before she dies.

The Secrets contains examples of:
 * Arranged Marriage: Naomi is engaged to her father's student, Michael.
 * The Atoner: Anouk, who asks Naomi and Michelle to help her find divine forgiveness for
 * Belligerent Sexual Tension: Owing to Naomi being something of an Insufferable Genius and Michelle being a bit of a French Jerk, the two can't stand each other at first. They get closer. Much closer.
 * Bilingual Bonus: The movie is in Hebrew, with English subtitles. Presumably a good deal of subtext gets lost in the translation.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Cluster F-Bomb: Sigi, when Michelle starts a water fight in the soup kitchen.
 * Chekhov's Skill: Near the beginning of the movie, Sigi mentions she picked up a bit of French from her Moroccan grandmother. Later, when she is present for one of Anouk's purifying rituals,
 * Crowning Moment of Awesome: Naomi's interaction with the Rebbetzin at the end, :
 * Rebbetzin: ...you so remind me of myself at your age... Naomi: I'm nothing like you. I'm not a coward.
 * Heel Faith Turn: Subverted. Sigi is newly religious, and it turns her from a friendly, adorable person into
 * Everyone Looks Sexier If French: Michelle is from Lyon, and looks stylish and positively sexy compared to the frumpily dressed yeshiva girls.
 * Fetish Fuel: Sackcloth. Also, repressed ultra-orthodox lesbians? Come on.
 * French Jerk: Michelle at first.
 * I Have No Son:
 * Incurable Cough of Death: More or less averted; Anouk says near the beginning that she has cancer and heart disease.
 * Intelligence Equals Isolation: Particularly true for Naomi, since women in her community are mostly just expected to get married early and start having babies.
 * Jerkass: Michael
 * Jewish Mother: Yanki's mother
 * Love Hurts:
 * Plucky Comic Relief: Sheine, with her constant snacking; also, at first, Sigi's involuntary swearing. Yanki's interactions with his mother.
 * Schoolgirl Lesbians: Naomi and Michelle
 * Tear Jerker:
 * Teen Genius: Naomi
 * Well-Intentioned Extremist: Sigi