Direction: Cherien Dabis
Country: Germany / Palestine / other
With a narrative spanning three generations—from 1948 to 2022—All That’s Left of You is a tragic drama with unmistakable political undertones, written and directed by Palestinian-American filmmaker Cherien Dabis, who also stars alongside the late Mohammad Bakri and his son Saleh Bakri.
Anchored by deeply convincing characters, the film portrays not only suffering, boundless sorrow, and resilience in the face of war as a daily reality, but also the difficult choices surrounding sensitive issues such as organ donation.
Through a discreet and unschematic approach to staging, Dabis finds emotional power in the tension between historical narrative and family melodrama, embracing a measured lyricism that never feels forced. The film’s greatest strength lies in its faith in humanity as a healing force, an outlook capable of melting even the most cynical hearts. Its storytelling is direct and assured, naturally intertwining collective history with intimate personal experience.
We are all familiar with the countless ways war dehumanizes individuals. Yet here, Dabis refuses to surrender to that inevitability. She never degrades her characters or fetishizes their suffering, choosing instead to foreground their dignity and capacity for hope. The transmission of trauma may be unavoidable, but compassion remains a vital source of relief. In All That’s left Of You, that compassion resonates long after the final scene.
