City Cinema: Bad Shabbos

Drama, Comedy. TBD.
Dir: Daniel Robbins, US, 2025, 84 min.
Milana Vayntrub, Kyra Sedgwick, Method Man.

“Set in the well-heeled part of New York’s Upper West Side Jewish community, Tribeca Festival audience award winner Bad Shabbos is an entertaining, fast-paced comedy about a Sabbath dinner gone terribly awry… A strong ensemble cast nails the tasty dialogue and increasingly frantic action without falling into shtick… David and his fiancée Meg, a shiksa already deep into conversion class, are headed for another Friday Sabbath dinner at the home of his parents, Richard and Ellen. But tonight is different from all other nights because Meg’s Catholic parents from Wisconsin, John and Beth, are due for a first meeting with his family… David’s well-founded anxiety isn’t just about what his future in-laws will think of his loud and argumentative parents and Sabbath customs, but also encompasses fears about added complications from the other guests… Grounded in its Upper West Side location, including a glimpse of Zabar’s and a stop at Barney Greengrass, the sturgeon king, the film benefits from [Director Daniel] Robbins’ knowledge of and affection for their milieu. A minimal but aptly used jazzy score and on-screen titles indicating how soon the next doorman will come on shift, ups the comic tension.” —Allissa Simon, Variety