Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Stay informed with free updatesSimply sign up to the Film myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.Muayad Alayan’s A House in Jerusalem is not strictly a ghost story, but it is haunted by the restless phantoms of Middle East history. Written by the Palestinian director and his brother Rami Alayan, it is about 10-year-old Rebecca (Miley Locke), an English girl who moves to Israel with her father Michael (Johnny Harris), following her mother’s death. Michael has inherited a property in Jerusalem — a vast, airy mansion with a large overgrown garden. In it is a well, in which Rebecca finds a doll. She rescues it but Michael throws it out — thereby creating a further debt to the past that must be repaid.There is another presence in the house, which Rebecca comes to know very well: this is one of those “secret friend” stories that used to be common in children’s fiction. Alayan plays cannily with Rebecca’s viewpoint and with the idea of a haunting played out in a location that is drenched in sunlight.Eventually, however, the film takes on a darker tone, becoming more obviously political once some very intrusive Israeli police pay a visit. Then Rebecca goes on a personal mission to Bethlehem, and the knowingly touristic shots of Jerusalem are replaced by rundown streets and checkpoints on the West Bank barrier.The film wraps up with a degree of contrivance and sentiment, but conveys its historical lesson economically, in a way that would make an accessible watch for younger viewers. Locke gives an affecting performance, entrusted with holding the camera’s attention pretty much throughout, sometimes in tandem with another young actor, Sheherazade Makhoul Farrell, as the house’s mystery resident.This is a gentle, even somewhat cosy Palestinian film. Given the current state of tensions in the Middle East, we are unlikely to see many of those in the near future.★★★☆☆In cinemas from May 31
