Originally published at: https://geektherapy.org/bad-shabbos-faith-family-and-a-killer-dinner-party/
Author: Jorge Perez
Shabbos, or Shabbat, is a Jewish day of rest and celebration that lasts from sunset Friday to nightfall Saturday. Since it is a day of rest and celebration, people who participate on Shabbos refrain from doing work like activities such as writing, construction, agricultural activities, and travel. It is celebrated every week and it promotes spiritual connection as well as closeness with family since people who participate in Shabbos would socialize with others. Since Shabbos is a Jewish day of rest, its principles and be used for others that do not practice Judaism in their self care routine. We use self care to recharge ourselves mentally and rest our minds by doing things we enjoy or at times simply do nothing. I feel that having one day without distractions can do wonders for our mental health. Of course, Shabbos doesn’t always lead to a day of rest as shown in the movie Bad Shabbos.
David and his fiancée Meg are about to attend a family dinner where both of their parents are about to meet for the first time over Shabbos. While David’s family begin to arrive for dinner, and accidental death (or possible murder) occurs before Meg’s parents arrive. With Meg’s parents in lou of arriving, Shabbos dinner spirals in hilarious disaster. Bad Shabbos is a hilarious movie that shows the full disfunction of a family during Shabbos, what’s supposed to be a Jewish day of rest, combined with both families meeting for the first time.
he movie is well written and makes it easy for those that do not know what Shabbos is. The characters that are portrayed are easily relatable and fun to watch. The comedic delivery is expertly shown making the movie enjoyable to watch. Bad Shabbos is directed and co-written by Daniel Robbins. How was this movie inspired? Daniel R. stated, ”The idea came from Adam Mitchell, the producer, and Zach Weiner, the co-writer, because Zach’s family hosts these lively Shabbats on the Upper West Side on Friday night and his mom will sometimes prank a guest just to keep things fun. The producer heard about this and said, what would happen if a prank ended up with someone dying? And Zach said, that’s pretty funny.” Daniel R. continued, “then they called me and I said, that could be a funny movie. Sometimes you have an idea and you try outlining it and the story doesn’t click, but in this one, all the elements just work together in this really magical way.”
I spoke with the cast and asked them when performing in this movie, what were your personal thoughts about the characters you’ve played? Jon Bass (who plays as David) stated, “It was just really nice to play someone who was so grounded and was like sort of this like marker of the family of like keeping the glue together and making sure everything was okay. And I know that very well, cause I’m a middle child.” David Paymer (who plays as David’s father Richard) stated, “Some of these other actors who I had not worked with, but I knew their work and really respected them. Just to be the patriarch of the family, it just was something I couldn’t turn down.”
Theo Taplitz (who plays the youngest sibling, Adam) said, “Adam’s a crazy character. What sort of kept me emotionally grounded inside of him is the fact that he does so badly want to be accepted by the family despite everything. Meghan Leathers (who plays Meg, David’s fiancee) stated, “I just I kind of related to my character. I was raised Christian in a Protestant church. So I came on to set not knowing too much about Judaism and the Torah and prayers and things like that. But to me, it felt pretty natural to sort of step into her shoes in that way. Milana Vayntrub (plays Abby, the oldest sibling) stated, “I resonated with Abby because she’s kind of like the frustrated daughter. Like there’s a relationship that you have with like your your boy family members that is really fun to riff off.”
It was great being able to hear how they related to their characters. I did ask how the film could help someone with their personal growth, like their problem-solving skills or their artistic expressions? David R. stated the following, “I think in terms of artistic vision, there’s a Scorsese quote that the most personal is the most creative, where this is a movie that we were pitching and a lot of people said was too niche. But, you know, Adam, Zach, and I felt like it’s a story that we just knew instinctively.”
David R. continued, “We knew that if we told it authentically, it would resonate.” David P. stated, “Well, you know, there are a lot of young people in the film or characters in the film that are struggling with their identities, whether their Jewish identity or one of the mice. Jon Bass, who plays my son is marrying a girl who’s not Jewish and she’s converting. So she’s doing that struggle.” Milana stated, “We’re like weirdos who are like, I just want to get into it and like do some improv games. I think that’s sort of the beauty and the spirit of this film is it was written by two hilarious, explosively creative, brilliant nerds.” Meghan stated, “I think the movie is really proof that if you have an idea you believe in, things can happen.”
Watching this movie gave me a peek of what a Jewish family dynamic can possibly look like. I learned a little more about Judaism and the concept of Shabbos. Though this movie is a dark comedy, you can really put yourself in the character’s shoes and understand how they feel minus the accidental death/murder. This movie is worth a watch.