A story is an extremely potent weapon, as we have seen in the two years that have passed since Hamas’s October 7 massacre, and the new series Red Alert does a superb job of telling riveting stories of terror, tragedy, and even the occasional triumph from that day.
The series debuted on Channel 12 in Israel (where it is known in Hebrew as Or Rishon, or First Light) on October 4 (the second episode will be released on Keshet 12 on October 8 and the others over the next week), and it will premiere globally on Paramount+ on October 7.
Red Alert, which is the phrase that signifies that a missile attack is imminent in Israel, dramatizes five true stories of mainly civilian characters, ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances, many of whom became unlikely heroes as they lived through events that will keep you on the edge of your seat for all four episodes.
Although it may be inappropriate under the circumstances to quote Stephen King’s one-line recommendation for the series Fauda, which he termed, “all killer, no filler,” that’s pretty much the case here. We do get brief flashbacks to the characters’ lives before the attack, but it’s mainly about what happens to them during that one day that changed thousands of people’s lives forever.
Stories from October 7
Unlike the previous series about October 7 from Yes, One Day in October (which is called Red Dawn in Hebrew and which will release three new episodes on October 7), where each episode told a different story, in Red Alert, each episode alternates among the five plotlines, a couple of which converge at times.
Some of these stories were extremely well publicized in Israel and abroad, and the less you know about them, the more the suspense will gnaw at you. I knew the outcome of two of the stories going in and still found myself gripped by terror as I watched. Maybe the best recommendation I can make for this series is that I received all four episodes at once, and I binged them, even though I hadn’t planned to.
The series features several of Israel’s best-known actors, but early on, they blended into their characters so seamlessly that I forgot the many roles I had seen them in before.
This was certainly true with Rotem Sela, who is currently starring in the comedy series Bloody Murray and recently appeared in the drama Soda. She plays Bat Sheva Yahalomi, who hides with her children and her husband, Ohad (Miki Leon), in the safe room of their house in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
While at first, she comforts her children, saying that the IDF will arrive any moment, it’s haunting to watch her grow increasingly frightened and frantic as time passes and no one shows up to rescue them. The military only arrived at Nir Oz after the terrorists killed 47 residents and took 76 others hostage. Several residents of the kibbutz are still being held in Gaza.
Hisham Suliman, who has appeared in Fauda, Tahrir, The Malevolent Bride, and many other roles, gives one of his best performances as Ayoub, a Bedouin living in Israel illegally, who has to keep his infant son quiet as they hide from the terrorists. As has been well documented, the terrorists killed and kidnapped many Israeli Muslims on October 7, as well as people of other religions and nationalities.
Sarit Vino-Elad, one of Israel’s best character actresses, has the role of a lifetime as Tali, a mother and kindergarten teacher in Ofakim who discovers reserves of strength she never imagined she possessed after her son (Nevo Katan), a soldier home on leave, goes out to fight terrorists who have invaded the city. The first episode opens with her daughters teasing her about never wearing her running shoes, but she ends up putting them to good use.
Kobi (Israel Atias, who was in Shababnikim), a counter-terrorism officer also based in Ofakim, joins the fight to defend his neighbors. His wife, Nofar (Chen Amsalem Zaguri), a border police officer, is on duty at the Nova music festival, where she tries to evacuate the thousands of partygoers trapped there, alongside her colleague, Liat (Rotem Abuhav), as the terrorists overrun the festival venue and the surrounding area.
Capturing the day
The action sequences, and there is one about every two minutes, are breathtakingly staged and convey the chaos of that day, when many terrorists disguised themselves as IDF soldiers and few of the real soldiers were able to get to the terror victims in time. Often, characters don’t know if they’re about to be rescued or shot to death, and we don’t either.
Despite the gruesome nature of the attack, though, the camera doesn’t linger gratuitously on graphic details of the dead and wounded. I can well imagine audiences around the world with no particular interest in Israel or Gaza tuning into Red Alert simply because it’s gripping and fast-paced, with an appealing cast and relatable characters.
The series was created, written, and directed by Lior Chefetz, who made the Yom Kippur War movie The Stronghold that opened shortly before the current war began, and he has great skill at mixing character-driven scenes with action.
The series was produced by the Keshet Media Group and multiple Academy Award nominee Lawrence Bender (Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds) with Green Productions and the Jewish National Fund-USA’s Israel Entertainment Fund. Chefetz co-created the series with Ruth Efroni, and it was co-written by Kineret Peled and Idan Hubel.
The creators chose the stories well, but there are certainly more stories from October 7 to be told, and let’s hope that by the time a new season is released, the war will have ended long ago and all the hostages will be home.