The Attack is a largely quite effective film about a fictional suicide bombing of an Israeli restaurant in which seventeen people, including eleven children, are killed.  It deal with an Israeli  Arab couple.  Amin Jaafari is a respected physician and the  film opens with him receiving an award. He is a non-practising Muslim.  His, wife, Siham, is Christian.   The latter is the suicide bomber and the film   focusses on the attempt s of Amin to confront this.  Amin  and Siham were very much in love and Amin both deeply grieves for Siham and is truly appalled at what she has done.  He is also angry with those who assisted her in the bombing.

While the film is political in that it is concerned with a suicide bombing done for political reasons, it is much more  a film about character, love, and personal relations, about a grieving, appalled husband’s memories and what he decides to do in light of his wife’s action.  As for the political part, there seems to me to be no thesis being pushed.  Both Arab nationalists and Israelis  are given their say.  At one point, in discussing Siham’s motivation, one character refers to the battle in Jenin as a massacre. I think this characterization is incorrect (see . for example, http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/2240#.UdrEuDdVOrl) but I suppose this can be said to be how many Arabs incorrectly came to see that event, including Siham.  I also wondered about Siham being a Christian.  My impression (but it is only that, I do not know the facts) is that suicide bombers in the Middle East are all, or virtually all, Muslims.

To me the major misstep is near the very end of the film where there is a scene to make Siham as sympathetic as possible without excusing her suicide bombing.    I think this scene was unnecessary as she was already portrayed in a way that made her a believable human being, not an abstract incarnation of evil.  It also mars the film. Up until this point, the film told  an involving story well but this scene  is manipulative.  It did not ruin the film for me; at the end I felt very sorry for Amin  and his character came through as believably sorrowful and confused but I think it decidedly weakens the film.