Here’s something you don’t hear very often: a small, scrappy Jewish comedy has just wrapped up over a year in theaters and festivals across the United States. In 2025. In this economy.
The film is “Bad Shabbos” — a raucous farce about a Shabbat dinner on the Upper West Side that goes horribly, hilariously wrong. At its center is David (Jon Bass), a young Jewish man eager to make a good impression, and his fiancée, Meg (Meghan Leathers), who’s in the process of converting to Judaism. The setup is meant to be a warm introduction to Meg’s Midwestern parents, who travel from Wisconsin to Manhattan to meet David’s family over Shabbat dinner.
But before the soon-to-be in-laws even arrive, disaster strikes: a prank gone wrong by David’s mischievous younger brother leaves one guest dead. From there, the night spirals into chaos — part “Meet the Parents,” part “Weekend at Bernie’s,” with a dash of Neil Simon-style neurosis and a slew of other comic inspirations sprinkled throughout.
The film boasts an A-list cast, with Kyra Sedgwick and David Paymer portraying David’s well-meaning but tightly wound parents, and Method Man (yes, the guy from Wu-Tang Clan), who steals the scene as the sharp-tongued doorman.
“Bad Shabbos’” recipe for success
“Bad Shabbos” premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Festival, where it won the coveted Audience Award before being acquired by Menemsha Films, a boutique distributor specializing in Jewish and Israeli titles. Typically, the next step for a small, offbeat film like this would have been a one-week run in New York or Los Angeles, followed quickly by a quiet streaming release destined to vanish into the abyss. Instead, “Bad Shabbos” pulled off a minor miracle.
Neil Friedman, the president of Menemsha Films, opted to take a risk: he decided to test word of mouth and give “Bad Shabbos” a slow roll-out release over the course of a year. As director Daniel Robbins told Unpacked, their approach was to “play it for a long time, almost like a Broadway show.”
The gamble paid off.
By the time “Bad Shabbos” hit streaming on September 16, it had already grossed $1.5 million and become one of the longest-running indie comedies in recent memory. It’s now available on several major streaming platforms, including Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Menemsha’s Jewish-themed streamer, ChaiFlicks.
The film’s theatrical rollout began in December 2024 exclusively in South Florida, where it ran for 16 weeks before opening in New York in May and gradually in other cities. Along the way, Robbins and his co-writer, Zach Weiner, toured the country doing Q&As to build buzz.
“We’ve probably done over like 70 Q&As at this point,” Robbins said. “The benefit of the Q&A is, one, it generally makes people like the movie more, because you’re there to talk about it and give it a little more context. And then two, it also helps turn people into advocates.”
That grassroots approach paid off. I even took my family to see it for Father’s Day, and right on cue, Robbins and lead actor Jon Bass were present for a post-screening conversation.
Generating buzz one Q&A at a time
The filmmaking team’s relentless hustle has been a major driver of the movie’s success.
“In South Florida, Adam [Mitchell, the producer] and I were there for two weekends doing five Q&As a day,” Robbins recalled.
The strategy turned “Bad Shabbos” into a record-breaker. At New York’s arthouse Quad Cinema, the film has become the second-highest-grossing film in the theater’s history, and the highest-grossing since the pandemic. Its record-breaking run at the theater ends this Thursday.
“It did so well in South Florida that it was able to get us in the Quad. And then it did so well at the Quad, that helped us book these prestigious theaters, like Coolidge Corner in Boston and Jacob Burns Film Center. And then at those places, it was the number one movie against Hollywood films. So then from there, everyone at every art house theater is like, okay, this movie is working.”
The film’s success was also helped by its short run-time, thanks to its rapid-fire dialogue. “The script was 116 pages,” Robbins noted, “but they talked so fast it became 84 minutes.”
That pacing, combined with the sheer joy of hearing an audience laugh together, gave “Bad Shabbos” a rare theatrical draw.
“People do want to go to the theaters and see a comedy, especially if it makes them laugh out loud, because that’s a rare thing nowadays, and that word of mouth takes time to spread.”
Early beginnings in film
Audiences may just be learning of Daniel Robbins’ talent now, but he’s not a newcomer to the world of low-budget filmmaking. Before “Bad Shabbos” became his breakout hit, he had directed three previous features.
What is new, though, is his hand in professional comedy.
“It’s really hard to make a low-budget comedy and get your money back. So we were kind of encouraged to do horror films, and we just tried to put our stamp on what our version of a horror movie would look like.”
Those horror films earned him distribution on Netflix, Hulu, and IFC Midnight, but comedy is what he wanted to do since he was a teenager and had started making films.
“It started in high school, where me and my friends made funny videos for the school assembly events. And then when we made one junior year, [it] lit a certain spark, so I thought I’d follow it — within reason.”
Until recently, though, he supported himself with practical side jobs.
“To make money, it was tutoring and corporate videos alongside this. I was an SAT/ ACT tutor in the city.”
Now, with “Bad Shabbos,” Robbins said doors have been opened for him that didn’t previously exist.
When asked about his dream Shabbat table, Robbins said it would include Mel Brooks, Larry David, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and his late grandparents, particularly his grandfather, who was a “huge laugher.”
Not a bad table. Not a bad Shabbos.
