Beshert - Review

*****

Written by Gary Enkin

Directed by Lewis Rose

2025 - 19 minutes

Anton Lesser and Kit Rakusen

Winner of the 2025 Pears Short Film Fund award, Beshert is a perfectly crafted 20-minute drama. Set in Leeds, Oliver Simon is approaching his barmitzvah while having been set a Care In The Community assignment from his school to visit an elderly resident in a local care home. On stumbling into the curmudgeonly Mr Pinsky the most charming and touching friendship evolves between (the unbeknownst to Oliver, dying) Pinsky and the convincingly awkward adolescent.

To say much more about the plot would spoil things and it’s only a short movie anyway, but what shines out from Beshert is its beautifully worded script from 70 year old newcomer(!) Gary Enkin that touches on moments of powerfully poignant tenderness while completely swerving sugary cliché. The relationships are played out with authenticity – with Pinksy’s final scene offering the most exquisitely understated depiction of hope emerging from devastating sadness. 

Of course it is not just the script. The young Kit Rakusen is Oliver while the venerable and accomplished Anton Lesser plays Pinsky, the spark between the pair proving electrifying. As Pinsky coaxes Oliver into embracing rather than resenting his barmitzvah, so too does the young boy re-ignite a spark of warmth and compassion in the old man. 

Lewis Rose directs with perfectly pitched nuance, and the whole affair is graced by a score from the always talented Erran Baron Cohen.

This movie is not just beshert, it’s beautiful.

Photo credit: Joanne Davidson