 Maital feels no different from her cousin Amitai. They both enjoy music and going to the beach. They both want to work for peace. When they were eighteen, they both worried about graduating from high school and making plans for the future. The difference? At eighteen, Maital worried about what college she would attend, while Amitai worried about what unit he would enter in the Israeli Defense Force. Mechina: A Preparation reveals a side of Israel unseen in the media, a side that exposes the people beyond the conflict and beneath the uniform. In the summer of 2004, Maital launches a journey to discover what it means to be eighteen in Israel. Living with Amitai and his five friends as they prepare for their army service, she uncovers the complexity of being young and idealistic in a time of war, as the teens transition from students to soldiers.