Estranged from her family, Yitzhaky thought she was partying with Roni, but he was actually using her as an oblivious mule. When he gets a tip the police are coming, he leaves her to take the fall. It was pretty clear she knew nothing and she never confesses to anything. Nevertheless, the corrupt cops and a DEA agent who technically isn’t supposed to be in-country, scapegoat her, to prove they are waging the war on drugs.
In a case of unintended consequences, druglord Amadeo DeSoto is impressed she didn’t break under interrogation, so he orders his enforcer inside the prison, Donna Maucha, to recruit Yitzhaky into the cartel. That allows Yitzhaky to protect her transsexual roommate Terry, and their adopted daughter Lena, who grew up in Mira Flores with her late junkie mother. Like most Israelis, Yitzhaky was tolerant and inclusive, even under extreme circumstances.
Indeed, screenwriters Avi Amar and Omri Rose’s adaptation just abounds with ironies. It is a heck of a true story, even though it is a bit predictable. The Bolivian government and the DEA take plenty of lumps, but the Israeli government comes out relatively unscathed, since they re never even mentioned. (However, Yitzhaky’s unhelpful family are not great national representatives.)
Regardless, Daniella Kertesz convincingly goes through the wringer, depicting Yitzhaky’s struggles with prison violence and addiction, as well as the stone-cold decisions she makes to survive. It is the kind of empowerment and redemption role that used to win Emmys for TV movie stars.
10 Kilos might be the most respectable women-in-prison movie maybe ever. Yet, there is still plenty of violence and a fair amount of sex. The nearly two-hour running time could have benefited from judicial pruning, but Eran undeniably immerses the audience in a very specific and very nightmarish place. Recommended for fans of prison movies and Narcos-like dramas, 10 Kilos opens this Friday (8/21) in theaters, with a VOD release planned for 8/28.
