‘Yes’ Trailer – Nadav Lapid’s Provocative, Satirical Israeli Drama Takes Aim at Art, Politics, and Identity

Here is the official trailer for Yes, the first look at the provocative satirical drama by Israeli auteur Nadav Lapid, known for bold and boundary-pushing films like Synonyms and Ahed’s Knee.

The story follows Y., played by Ariel Bronz, a struggling jazz musician in Israel’s fraught contemporary climate, and his wife Jasmine, portrayed by Efrat Dor, a dancer whose life alongside Y. oscillates between artistic aspiration and moral compromise.

The cast also includes Naama Preis, Alexey Serebryakov, Sharon Alexander, and Idit Teperson.

Yes first premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight section of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, then went on to screen at the New Horizons Film Festival in Wrocław and the Rome Film Festival. It is now slated for a U.S. theatrical release on March 27, 2026, via Kino Lorber.

Set in Israel in the aftermath of October 7, Yes follows Y., a jazz musician struggling to make ends meet, and his wife Jasmine, a dancer. To survive, they sell their art, souls, and bodies to the elite, providing pleasure and consolation to a wounded nation. When Y. is entrusted with the monumental task of composing a new national anthem, his journey spirals into a surreal odyssey that reflects the fracture of society, identity, and artistic integrity.

Director Nadav Lapid has remarked on the urgency and intent behind Yes, especially given its production context and thematic depth. Lapid explained that the film became “a kind of tool which measures cowardice and courage, to distinguish between the cowardly ones and the courageous ones,” reflecting on how it was perceived at Cannes and why it landed in Directors’ Fortnight rather than the main competition.

In a review, IndieWire characterized the film as ‘deliriously provocative,’ writing, “But “Yes” isn’t the simple polemic that might be implied by that description. Lapid isn’t much interested in making a clear political argument, and even less so in trying to convince any potential fence-sitters to fall on the right side of history. On the contrary, this is a film that firmly believes Israel’s atrocities to be self-evident, and it’s only interested in exhausting itself for a viewership that already feels the same way.”

Watch the official trailer for Yes, above.