The Green Prince Directed by Nadav Schirman. Rated PG-13. Opens Friday.

Some of the events described in the documentary The Green Prince are so outlandish that they might be hard to believe in a narrative film, but director Nadav Schirman keeps the movie’s tone from veering into sensationalism by focusing on interviews from only two subjects, an operative of Israel’s Shin Bet security service and the son of one of the principal leaders of Palestinian organization Hamas. Mosab Hassan Yousef, son of Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, tells the gripping story of the 10-plus years he spent working as a spy for Shin Bet, with agent Gonen Ben Yitzhak as his handler and eventual champion. Schirman offers up minimal context via onscreen titles, but this isn’t a movie particularly interested in broader concerns about the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine; it’s about the difficult but ultimately profound relationship between these two men, and the risks they both took to do what they believed was right.

Yousef in particular is an incredibly charming and charismatic storyteller, and he manages to imbue much of his account with the same suspense and intrigue as a top-notch thriller. Yitzhak is more subdued, but he provides crucial context for the story, and his presence becomes especially meaningful as the movie gets to Yousef’s escape from Israel to the United States and subsequent efforts to seek asylum. The covert nature of the story means that Schirman doesn’t have a lot of archival footage to work with, but he augments the two men’s accounts when he can, with images of Yousef’s father and news clips showing the never-ending cycle of violence between the two sides, plus some low-key re-enactments.

Sometimes that insular perspective can be frustrating, and anyone looking for a bigger-picture analysis of the political situation in Israel will be disappointed. But Yousef and Yitzhak bring a welcome level of humanity to an issue that’s been endlessly debated on cable news shows and in newspaper op-eds, reducing it to the most basic, personal level. Although both men speak excellent English, it’s occasionally frustrating that Schirman didn’t interview them in their native languages, as they sometimes search for the right words to express themselves. For the most part, though, they tell their stories with passion and intensity, making the most of every word.