The mourning ritual is like a show. Grief is staged and the mourner expresses his grief before the community. The mourner does not express sorrow in the same way when he or she is alone. You must show your grief to your community otherwise you are rejected by it. A widow is expected to wear mourning. It is the clash between the need to express one’s sorrow privately and the pressure to express it publicly that creates dramatic tension. -Shlomi Elkabetz Set during the first Gulf conflict in 1991, The Seven Days unfurls during the traditional Shiva in one home as the family of the deceased start to tear and fray. Tradition only dominates for so long until old feuds and long-held bitterness surface in the house, forcing hidden truths to come to the fore.