Foxtrot

Michael and Daphna learn their son, Jonathan, has died in the line of duty. The IDF refuses to tell them where, how, or whether his body was recovered, leaving them with uncertainty and grief. The shock of the news shatters their sense of control over their family’s fate.

A few hours later, the Feldmans are told there has been a misidentification and it was another Jonathan Feldman who was killed. Relief is tempered by confusion and fear as they try to process what this means for their son. The possibility of bringing Jonathan home becomes a precarious hope.

Michael pushes to return Jonathan home as soon as possible, leveraging a favor to hasten the process. The promise is made that Jonathan will come home by the next day, but Michael continues pressing for an even faster outcome. Daphna wrestles with hope and fear in equal measure.

At a desolate outpost, Jonathan and three other soldiers man a checkpoint, living in a cargo container that leans toward the mud. To pass the long nights, Jonathan tells the story of how his father once traded a treasured heirloom preserved through the Holocaust for a porn magazine.

One night, a car containing four Palestinians is mistaken for a weapon when a beer can rolls out of it. Jonathan shoots four Palestinians in the ensuing confusion. The soldiers call in the incident, and a bulldozer arrives to bury the car with the deceased inside.

Senior IDF officers warn the soldiers not to disclose what happened, treating it as an internal matter. The truth is guarded, leaving the soldiers to shoulder the burden of the event without accountability. The incident weighs on Jonathan and his crew as they await further orders.

A call from Michael's connection informs Jonathan that he will be returning home with him. The message reopens the possibility of a family reunion and renews hope amid the tension and secrecy surrounding the case.

Michael and Daphna reunite for Jonathan's twentieth birthday, but the mood is haunted by loss. It is revealed that Jonathan died on his way home, and the couple has already separated due to their shared blame and grief. The family memoir becomes a battlefield of memory.

The couple grapples with Jonathan's final drawing—a bulldozer carrying a car—and debates who is the bulldozer and who is the car. They share a moment high on drugs as they search for meaning and absolution. Michael reveals the weight of his wartime memories and guilt.

Michael reveals that, during his own army service, he witnessed the deaths of several members of his unit and blamed himself for them. Jonathan’s birth had felt like absolution for those past losses, reinforcing the fragile link between parenthood and guilt. Daphna’s conflict about the pregnancy remains unresolved.

Grief strains the couple's relationship, alternating between tenderness and blame. The home becomes a venue for memories that threaten to rupture their marriage. The sense that something irreparable has occurred hangs over their interactions.

In the final scene, Jonathan rides in a military vehicle toward Tel Aviv when the driver swerves to avoid a camel and the vehicle rolls down an embankment. The anticipated homecoming collapses into a new form of grief, leaving the family with a haunting silence. The film closes on the consequences of delay and miscommunication.