MJFF – Bad Shabbos
Bad Shabbos
Daniel Robbins, USA, 2024, 84min
Language: English
This special premiere event will include the attendance of director Daniel Robbins, who will introduce the film and participate in a Q&A after the screening.
Winner of the top audience prize at the Tribeca Film Festival, this darkly hilarious, highly entertaining, one-night-in-New-York story turns a Shabbat family dinner into a chaotic whirlwind they will never forget. When two couples, Abby and Benjamin, and David and recently-converted-to-Judaism Meg, gather for what should be a typical Shabbat family dinner, an unexpected shadow looms over their night—an accidental death (or is it murder?) threatens to unravel the whole evening.
As the night spirals out of control, the arrival of Meg’s Catholic parents from Wisconsin, meeting their future in-laws for the first time, only adds to the hilarious mayhem that ensues. Scrambling to maintain a façade of normalcy for their Midwestern guests, the family finds themselves creatively bending traditions—and even inventing a few new ones out of sheer desperation!
Kyra Sedgwick kills (not literally!) as the neurotic matriarch, leading an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Method Man, Milana Vayntrub, Catherine Curtin, and more familiar faces. The film’s rapid-fire dialogue, twisty script, and masterful editing keep the chaotic momentum going, delivering pure comedic gold. With its blend of family antics, sharp humor, and a warm heart, Bad Shabbos is a charmingly modern screwball comedy that brilliantly captures the hilarity and madness of one family’s unforgettable Shabbat.
