When Hamas terrorists launched their deadly assault on Israel on Oct. 7, the horror was unimaginable. Sixteen-year-old Rotem Mathias survived by pretending to be dead, hiding beneath the body of his murdered mother. Eleven-year-old Yael Idan, after witnessing the murder of her sister, asked if there was any chance she might come back to life. After seeing his father get shot, 12-year-old Eitan Yahalomi was kidnapped and taken to Gaza, where he survived 52 days on a diet of pita and cucumber. When he first arrived, he said, Palestinian civilians beat him.
These wrenching accounts are among the jaw-dropping testimonies in the powerful new documentary “The Children of October 7,” now streaming on Paramount+ and airing on MTV. Hosted by Jewish influencer, dancer, actress, and model Montana Tucker, the film features interviews with eight Israeli children who lived through the terror of that day. Tucker’s empathy and care in her approach are evident. Speaking with the children nearly a year after the attacks, she earns their trust and creates space for their voices to be heard.
“We made sure we had a psychologist on set, and I spoke to them extensively before and after filming,” Tucker told Unpacked, adding that some had previously seen her TikTok videos, which likely made them comfortable with her. “Every moment with each child was emotional because they all had unique stories. People ask me how I didn’t break down during every single interview. When you watch it, you see the trauma in their eyes, but you see how strong they are. It was a great honor to bring their stories to a major platform.”
The legacy that fuels Montana Tucker
The granddaughter of Holocaust survivors Lily and Michael Schmidmayer, Tucker was greatly influenced by their stories, inspiring her to take a stand against antisemitism and to empower the Jewish people.
A passionate advocate against antisemitism, she previously created a short documentary, “How to: Never Forget,” chronicling her visit to Auschwitz. Despite losing followers and brand deals over her outspoken support for Israel, Tucker has remained unapologetic over her vocal stance against antisemitism and staunch support for the Jewish State..
Recently, she interviewed Eli Sharabi — who spent 491 days in Hamas captivity — further amplifying voices often ignored by mainstream media. She credits both Holocaust survivors and the survivors of Oct. 7 as sources of inspiration and strength. While a goal of hers was to give strength to the children she interviewed in “The Children of October 7,” Tucker found that she felt stronger in their presence as well.
“Stayin’ Alive” in the face of death
In one unexpected moment in the film, Mathias is seen singing the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive” during a brief karaoke session with Tucker. She told Unpacked that he chose the song himself.
Mathias, from Kibbutz Holit, survived by hiding in a room, listening to his mother Shachar’s final instructions. As terrorists approached, she told him to lie by the wall and then shielded him with her body. His father, Shlomi, tried to block the door before being shot. Both of his parents were murdered, and Mathias was left with a wound in his chest.
The film shows a clip of his mother making a joke in a birthday video — a gut-wrenching reminder of what was lost. The children in this documentary calmly recount moments that most adults would struggle to comprehend — grenades being thrown, parents being murdered — yet they somehow manage to carry on.
The tremendous courage of Yael Idan
Yael Idan, just 11 at the time, is one of the more well-known young survivors. Her family was held hostage in their home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, and Hamas livestreamed the ordeal following the murder of her 18-year-old sister, Maayan. The footage was clearly intended to terrorize Jews around the world. In the film, Yael recalls screaming, crying, and asking the terrorists why they shot her sister.
“They told me to shut up,” Idan says in the film.
At a screening of the film at the Paley Center for Media in Manhattan on Tuesday, Tucker invited Idan to join her on stage. She also expressed hope that the remaining hostages would be freed. The young girl’s father, Tsachi, who was shown with bloodied hands on Oct. 7, was later killed in Gaza. His funeral was held in February.
Psychological torture and the weight of memory
Yahalomi, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, stands out for his reflective and introspective nature. He describes not only physical abuse but also psychological torment. At just 12 years old, he was shown horrifying videos by his captors and beaten by civilians. His mother and sister, Bat-Sheva and Yael, managed to escape being taken to Gaza. When he asked where they were, the terrorists claimed not to know.
The trauma has left deep scars. Yahalomi struggles to sleep. Meanwhile, sisters Alona and Yeela Rousso (11 and 9 at the time) from Kibbutz Kfar Aza share that they still dream of their father Uri, 44, who was killed while fighting to protect their community.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking moment in the documentary is when 14-year-old Ella Shani reads a text she wrote to her father, Yitzhak, who was murdered by Hamas. The two had a complicated relationship, but she never got to say goodbye. Ella and her family hid in their mamad (safe room) for 15 agonizing hours.
“The Children of October 7” tells stories that cannot be forgotten
In a conversation with Call Me Back podcast host Dan Senor, Shari Redstone — Paramount’s chairwoman and a prominent Jewish leader — emphasized the importance of telling these stories. She visited Israel several times after the attacks and stood on the grounds of the Nova Festival.
She said the documentary was especially important “because of what we’re seeing taking place on college campuses today and the total misinformation that is out there, that people don’t have the chance to see what’s real and see what the facts are.
“Content can lead to conversations that can lead to change,” Redstone said.
“The Children of October 7” is a pure, painful testament
Director Asaf Becker made it clear that every choice in the documentary was deliberate. The perspective of Israeli children, so often left out of the Oct. 7 narrative, was one the world needed to see.
“These are very important stories to tell, and it is crucial to see it through the most innocent eyes of those who went through this terrible day and experienced this kind of trauma,” Becker told Unpacked. “Our job is to tell this story over and over again. I took a lot of care in each decision made for this.”
He said that while his experience on Oct. 7 was nowhere near what the children went through, he now defines his life as “before and after October 7.”
The film concludes with a sobering statistic: 37 children were killed and 36 kidnapped during the October 7 attacks.
“The Children of October 7” is not political. It doesn’t address the subsequent war in Gaza or delve into geopolitics. It focuses solely on the personal, unfiltered experiences of the children who lived through the horror. The film features real footage from the day of the attack, alongside home videos and interviews. It is likely deserving of an Emmy.
Despite the trauma, these young survivors show remarkable resilience. They don’t wallow — they endure. They grieve — but they also laugh. You’ll want to reach through the screen and hug them.
A message you won’t forget
In a moment that will bring tears, Rotem Mathias — wounded, orphaned, and in hiding — sent a WhatsApp message to his extended family. It reflected a level of maturity and spiritual strength that’s hard to fathom, especially in a child.
Among the attendees at the Paley Center screening were released hostages Noa Argamani and Andrei Kozlov, Jewish actor Jason Isaacs (“The White Lotus” and “Harry Potter”), influencer Lizzy Savetsky, comedian Modi Rosenfeld, rapper Kosha Dillz, and Tessa Veksler, who also appears in the documentary “October 8.”
Redstone, at one point visibly emotional, urged the audience to stand up for truth and for the future. She encouraged all to fight “for these kids, to fight for our hostages and to fight for the world we want to live in, where antisemitism might not go away, but it will be a hell of a lot less.”
Originally Published Apr 27, 2025 04:14PM EDT
