User Reviews

The movie ran long: over two hours, and maybe closer to three than two. I'm not sure, though. I was immersed. The filmography was beautiful and immersive. The interviews, despite being entirely presented in subtitles for we English speakers/readers, were compelling, as was the story the director was telling. The film is partly historical storytelling and partly political analysis. It asks questions rather than attempts to offer any solutions, as the director said in a Q&A afterward. It depicts the birth of what you might call the modern Zionist movement, at least as it expresses itself in the outpost settlements in occupied territory outside of sovereign Israel. The interviews are with people placed high and low in the settlement communities and in universities in Israel, and they present a stark and worrying portrait: Israeli settlers, though a minority of the Israeli population, are a destabilizing force that has run unchecked because of politicians' fears of facing up to their ardent beliefs as espoused by devoted followers. The moderates of the country are mute in the film, and they can't be much louder in reality, given the extent to which the settlers have been permitted by their government to run roughshod over laws that the country itself, let alone international agreements, have set in place. The film worried me, and the picture of a new Apartheid it presented is vivid.

The Settlers makes the politics of Jewish settlement in Palestinian territories into a compelling story that combines high-stakes politics, history, and intimate portraits of human experience. We get an inside look into the daily lives of a broad range of characters that live on the most contested land in the world. Whether or not you agree with their choices, their stories are impossible to ignore. It's amazing that a small number of people on a few small patches of land can have such a massive impact on global politics. It makes global geopolitics engrossing and human -- it's a movie that everyone should watch, regardless of their own politics.

This documentary provides us with an excellent historical view of how the settlements started in the "conquered" territories. We see how the Israeli government was inept at stopping this - or really in many cases actively aiding the settlements.

And it is very obvious that religious belief added to this - giving it a very toxic mix. When a people feel that their beliefs gives them a right over others, namely the Palestinians, to own land trouble will ensue.

The film illustrates how Israeli society and government have been infused by religious beliefs. Israel is not a secular state.

This film gives us an understanding of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict

I watched this in November 2023 in the aftermath of the 7/10 atrocities to try and get a wider understanding of the problems in a region that has been thrust into the spotlight.

I'll preface by saying I'm neither Jewish nor Israeli and my knowledge of the Israel/Palestine conflict is hardly extensive, but the good reviews of this documentary gave me hope that it would provide some good insight.

Within the first few minutes, words like 'apartheid' and 'colonialism' are banded around, which doesn't exactly set the scene for a balanced portrayal of the topic, but nevertheless the film does go on to attempt it.

As other reviewers have noted, this is wonderfully shot and generally well-made in terms of production values, but this is probably the best thing about it.

At nearly 2hrs long it still struggles not to rush over important events, and it begins abruptly with the assumption that the viewer is aware of the complex history of the region prior to 1948. This makes it rather fast-paced, with a lot of information to take in at once.

There are some wonderful and interesting characters interviewed on both sides but sadly their stories are not developed and we're not really able to connect or fully understand their daily lives in the West Bank, which seems a real shame.

In terms of narrative, the story is mainly rolled along by seemingly 'left-wing' talking head academics with some segues from the narrator, with the Settler side portrayed largely by themselves. The problem with this is that it clearly sets up a kind of 'official narrative' vs 'crackpot narrative' type scenario which starts to detract from the documentary's credibility of balance. Also, while highlighting a few major events, it generally skims over the Palestinian hatred and violence towards the settlements and Israelis, which is obviously a key element to why the region is so troubled.

In conclusion, this French/Isreali production certainly gives a good general timeline of the story of settlements in the West Bank, but felt rushed even at its 2hr length, and seemingly designed more to get awards at European film festivals than give an honestly balanced view of an exceedingly complicated situation.

Though it did try.