Bad Shabbos, from Menemsha Films, nails New York City from the jump. The opening montage tours iconic Upper West Side spots — brownstones, street carts, Lincoln Center, Zabar’s — before settling into the legendary Barney Greengrass deli. (The owner even pops in for a wry cameo.) It’s clear that director Daniel Robbins wants to establish his New York bona fides, and his movie does not disappoint. He’s practically handing the audience a bagel (or, in this case, a piece of challah bread) and telling you to make yourself home. And like the best Woody Allen classics, every scene feels rooted in a real place, making the urban landscape less a backdrop and more another character at the table.
Bad Shabbos, co-written by Robbins and Zack Weiner, isn’t just funny; it’s a short but immersive dive into the glorious, messy, and often hilarious New York Jewish experience, even parsing out the dos-and-don’ts of an observant Jewish family with balancing humor and pathos. Given the current messy state of everything Jewish in our world, it is a welcome pause to just laugh and sigh, albeit with an ample cringe factor mixed in, much like our present days.
At its core, Bad Shabbos takes a tradition as old as time — lighting Shabbos candles on a Friday evening — and then, with a wicked grin, turns it entirely on its head. The simple setup is elegantly ripe for comedic disaster: an interfaith couple with Jewish parents hosts a Shabbos dinner to introduce their families, hoping for a smooth path to acceptance. Instead, the evening is spectacularly derailed by a cadaver’s sudden, inconvenient arrival. What makes this modest film work so well is the combination of casting and performances. Despite a script that asks its actors to muddle through several incredulous scenes of people reacting to a dead body, the narrative weaves a charming spell and some welcome twists.
The collective comedic alchemy of its ensemble cast of Bad Shabbos is reason to see this film. David Paymer, an A-list character actor we’ve seen for decades, is a revelation of goofy eccentricity and deadpan comic timing that keeps you guessing during each phase of celebration and mayhem. Kyra Sedgewick is sublime as the “Jewish Mother” from both sides of the cosmos. Her combination of cold-bloodedness and heart brings gravitas to a movie that sometimes teeters too far in comedic absurdity.
As the prodigal son, David, Jon Bass, in a wonderfully grounded good-Jewish-son/boyfriend performance, brings his Catholic-turning-Jewish fiancée Meg (Meghan Leathers) to Shabbos dinner. Leathers’s character, however, has the more challenging narrative arc. At every moment, you think she will break and lash out at the not-so-passive aggression, but her performance deftly toggles between humor and the pressure she is under as the gentile seeking acceptance.
Milana Vayntrub (older daughter Abby) and Theo Taplitz (youngest, Adam) provide essential comic foils, with Taplitz working a little too hard as the “eccentric family misfit” despite his charms. Cliff “Method Man” Smith plays the Upper West Side doorman from heaven with understated cool. He’s the problem solver who keeps a vault of family secrets. Amidst the pandemonium, he’s the picture of composure; yet cunningly transforms into the film’s secret weapon. Smith subtly steals every scene he’s in.
Bad Shabbos infuses fresh perspective into worn-out film tropes of NY Jews, “shiksa” fiancées, the inconveniently deceased, and bad boyfriends. Small surprises in the script and direction keep this 84-minute film crackling with energy and momentum. Despite its modest scale, Bad Shabbos offers a surprisingly tender reflection on the enduring themes of family and tradition. It’s a witty reminder to embrace life — and death — with a healthy dose of humor and heart.
Stephan Koplowitz is a director, choreographer, and author of On Site-Methods for Site-Specific Performance Creation by day. By night, he’s an avid cinephile.