Yossi 2013

Yossi, a 34-year-old closeted gay man, works as a cardiologist at a Tel Aviv hospital, carrying the weight of a love long gone. Ten years after the death of the man he loved, he has never fully moved on, and his personal life remains unsettled. In an effort to cope, he buries himself in work, punctuated by late-night take-out noodles and soft‑core gay porn, finding comfort more in routine than in connection.

One routine check-up brings a jolt of memory and pain. A patient named Varda Amichai, whom Yossi recognizes as the mother of Jagger—the man he once loved—asks to be treated. She probes for familiarity, and Yossi responds with caution, denying they have met before. The examination becomes a quiet battleground of drifting memories. After the test, Yossi encounters Varda at the hospital exit and reluctantly offers her a ride home. During the drive, she reveals a hidden truth: she did have a son who was killed in Lebanon, and she shows him a photograph of him, shattering any remaining denial Yossi clings to.

Meanwhile, loneliness gnaws at Yossi in other ways. He experiments with online dating, but his attempt is hampered by a misrepresentative photo that distorts his chances. The date goes poorly when he encounters a narcissistic bar owner who is repelled by the gap between the slim image he projects and the reality of Yossi’s body and life.

A medical mistake compounds the pressure at work, nearly costing a patient her life. The supervisor gently admonishes Yossi for not taking a vacation and for the strain that his private life—maybe even his sexuality—puts on him. Rumors circulate in the ward that Yossi might be gay, adding another layer of tension to his already fragile self‑image. In the midst of this, Nina, a nurse, becomes infatuated with him and even kisses him while he’s asleep, an advance Yossi rebuffs, leaving both parties unsettled.

Unable to address his sexuality openly with colleagues, Yossi finds himself dragged into a compromising night out with Moti, a fellow doctor who drinks and uses drugs to escape his own pain. Recently divorced, Moti wants to seize the night and invites Yossi along to a straight bar scene—drinks, drugs, and easy company. A moment in a bathroom becomes fraught when Moti pushes Yossi to have sex with a girl, and Yossi flees in distress. In tears, mourning his lost love, he spends the night in his car outside Varda’s home. The next morning, he is invited into the home of Jagger’s father, where he opens up about his two‑year affair with their son and the circumstances surrounding his death. The conversation does not go well; Varda asks him to leave, but Jagger’s father invites Yossi to look around their son’s bedroom, forcing a painful confrontation with what remains of that past.

Deciding to escape Tel Aviv, Yossi plans a spontaneous break toward the south, aiming for the Sinai coast. Along the way, he stops at a rest area and meets four young soldiers who have missed their bus. They tease him about his music, but he ends up sharing a ride to their hotel in Eilat. One of the soldiers, Tom, who is openly gay, forms a bridge between Yossi and a world he has kept at arm’s length. Tom, teased by his friends for coming out, befriends Yossi and offers him a gift certificate for a massage, which Yossi accepts but does not immediately use, keeping his distance and his reticence.

That evening, at a performance by singer-songwriter Keren Ann, Tom joins Yossi for a walk along the promenade. Their conversation touches on Yossi’s time in the military and Tom’s decision to come out to his fellow soldiers, though not to his family. The personal chemistry between them grows quietly; Tom goes skinny-dipping, steps on a sea urchin, and Yossi tends to his wound in the hotel room. Tom flirts, and although Yossi initially resists, Tom returns, asking for a kiss. They share a hesitant, tender moment as they lie together in the darkness, turning the hotel room into a small, intimate space where fear and longing mingle.

As they drive toward the Sinai coast, the possibility of a future together hangs in the air. On a shared beach, Tom voices a wish to stay there forever, and Yossi surprises him by admitting that he would like to stay there forever as well. The night becomes a turning point, a fragile opening toward vulnerability and connection that had long eluded Yossi.

In this quiet, emotionally charged journey, the film traverses themes of grief, loneliness, self‑acceptance, and the stubborn hope that—against the odds—there might be a path to genuine closeness, even for someone who has spent years building walls around their heart.