Thy Father's Chair

The elderly Orthodox Jewish twin brothers Abraham and Shraga have to deal with a violation of their privacy when a team of cleaners arrives to clean up their house. The family home in Brooklyn has become filthy since their parents died: rubbish is stacking up and vermin are taking over. When the tenant in the upstairs apartment stops paying rent because of the problems and the twins are in danger of losing their home, Abraham is forced to open their door to the men in the white suits. In seven chapters, the apartment is gradually transformed under the strict supervision of Hanan, who is also Jewish. It goes from being a place you wouldn’t want to set foot in, where for shame the curtains are permanently closed, into a clean, tidy and light home. The process doesn’t always go smoothly, however; a third brother refuses point-blank to cooperate, Shraga shirks his chores and Abraham tries to cling on to every single object the cleaners want to remove. Will he manage to keep his father's chair? Is he actually worthy of siting in it himself? A tired, intimidated Abraham – a slovenly but gentle man whose arms are covered in flea bites – fights bravely to retain the tangible incarnations of his memories in a film about helplessness, religion and loss of control in a life circumscribed by rules.