Film review

With two current films, director Rachel Israel offers comic relief for Jewish trauma

Two unabashedly Jewish comedies were directed: The Floaters, set at a Jewish summer camp, and Influenced, a satire of Manhattan influencer culture that culminates in a b’nai mitzvah celebration.

AUGUST 5, 2026|BySTEPHEN SILVER/JTA

Director Rachel Israel, right, and producer Shai Korman arrive at the premiere of "The Floaters" during the 2025 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, Aug. 3, 2025.

Iris Haim, the mother of Yotam Haim, who was shot by IDF troops after escaping from captivity in Gaza.

In an extraordinary choice, Iris Haim refused to let Hamas claim another victim - opinion

Iris Haim, the mother of Yotam Haim, who was tragically shot by IDF troops after escaping from captivity in Gaza, inspires with the riveting upcoming film ’ Looking for Yotam’

AUGUST 1, 2026|ByJONATHAN LIEBERMAN

OR AVINOAM (left) and Riki Reif Sinai in ‘Cuz You’re Ugly.’

In 'Cuz You're Ugly,' Israeli director Sharon Angelhart tells the story she never saw on screen

Director/screenwriter Sharon Angelhart said that with her movie, she was trying to make a film that “was what I would have wanted to see when I was growing up in Jerusalem."

JULY 25, 2026|ByHANNAH BROWN

Sharon Angelhart's award-winning debut film 'Cuz You're Ugly' hits Israeli theaters

The story of the close, fraught relationship between the sisters and Avigail’s search for a better life brings to mind the phrase “falling through the cracks.”

JULY 22, 2026|ByHANNAH BROWN

New film 'The Ring' traces a family's Holocaust trauma - film review

Much of the movie details their search through Budapest, and as interesting as this city’s atmosphere is, it’s the relationships among the three leads that carry the movie forward.

DECEMBER 19, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN

ADIR MILLER and Joy Rieger in ‘The Ring.’

Israeli film ‘Red Flower’ copes with the carnage in Sderot - review

Also available is the docudrama One Day in October on Yes TV, by Daniel Finkelman and Oded Davidoff, which offers dramatized versions of four stories from October 7.

OCTOBER 27, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN

Love, laughter, and high-stakes Haredi dating in 'Matchmaking 2' - review

If you’re craving a story that’s both romantic and funny, Matchmaking 2 is a good match.

OCTOBER 19, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN

NOAM IMBER (left) and OMER NUDELMAN in 'Matchmaking 2.'

Norwegian talkfest ‘Sex’ is an utterly unsexy film - review

Norwegian film "Sex" revives mumblecore with a dialogue-heavy story, but its slow, unremarkable conversations fall flat.

OCTOBER 13, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN

THORBJORN HARR and Jan Gunnar Roise in Dag Johan Haugerud’s film, ‘Sex.’

‘White Bird’ stars Helen Mirren as a Holocaust survivor who teaches her grandson about kindness

The movie is a spinoff of “Wonder” (2017), a modern-day story about a middle schooler seeking to fit in despite his facial differences.

OCTOBER 5, 2024BySHIRA LI BARTOV/JTA

Helen Mirren as Grandmère and Bryce Gheisar as Julian in "White Bird: A Wonder Story."

'A World Apart' showcases Italian small-town charm with a heartfelt story of resilience - opinion

'A World Apart' tells the heartwarming story of a Roman teacher revitalized by a tiny Italian village’s fight to keep its school open, resonating with today’s challenges.

AUGUST 27, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN

'Thelma': A movie that will ride off with your heart - review

Thelma is a touching and entertaining story about what getting old is like for many people, with real laughs and moving moments.

AUGUST 12, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN

JUNE SQUIBB and Fred Hechinger in ‘Thelma.’

Movie ‘Last Summer’ brings viewers on a journey of an illicit and immoral relationship - review

The movie is the story of an illicit and immoral relationship, the kind that once upon a time was winked at when the younger person was a male teenager but is now viewed as a criminal offense.

AUGUST 5, 2024ByHANNAH BROWN