The Believer

Danny Balint is a bright young man living in New York who was raised in a Jewish religious school but was expelled as a boy for questioning what he was taught. At twenty-two he shaves his head and joins the neo-fascist skinhead scene, where his intelligence and speaking ability make him a leader among men who see a Jewish conspiracy behind everything they hate. What his comrades do not know is that Danny is himself Jewish, and that he spends his nights studying Hebrew scripture and teaching the language while taking part in street violence by day. His double life grows harder to hold together as his standing in the movement rises and his own past keeps surfacing.

The Believer was directed by Henry Bean, who also wrote the screenplay, and was his first feature behind the camera; his second, Noise, followed in 2007. Ryan Gosling plays Danny, with Summer Phoenix, Theresa Russell, Billy Zane, Garret Dillahunt and A.D. Miles among the credited cast of thirty-six. Made for about two million dollars, it took roughly one million at the worldwide box office.

On IMDb the film holds 7.1 out of 10 from around 43,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.9 from 695. A critics' rating of 7.4 from 95 reviews places it somewhat above the audience scores.