It shouldn’t be too hard for a smart, funny, and successful Israeli woman to meet Mr. Right.
At least, that’s the theory hilariously put to the test in “Bloody Murray,” the hit Israeli romantic comedy that recently made its U.S. debut on ChaiFlicks.
The series centers on two 35-year-old roommates and best friends navigating careers, dating, and the pressure to settle down in Tel Aviv. Murray (Naomi Levov) teaches romantic comedies at a university but can’t seem to make one happen in her own life. Her roommate Dana (Rotem Sela), meanwhile, is a successful gynecologist whose romantic life isn’t exactly thriving either.
Originally released in Israel in 2022, the nine-episode first season premiered on ChaiFlicks on July 19, with new episodes arriving weekly. The streamer has also acquired the second season, which will receive its global premiere on the platform at a later date.
Crash, smash, dash to a wedding?
“Bloody Murray” wastes no time creating its own meet-cute.
After Murray gets into a minor car accident with Lior (Shlomi Tapiero), he initially pretends to be a police officer. Once he comes clean, Murray realizes that beneath the bizarre introduction is a handsome, confident man.
Instead of exchanging insurance information like normal adults, Murray drives off. But because she teaches romantic comedies for a living, she can’t help wondering whether the crash was actually fate intervening.
Then comes the twist: When Lior tracks Murray down, he meets Dana instead — and is immediately interested in her.
Suddenly, Murray is forced to watch the man she had begun imagining as her romantic destiny date her best friend.
Hey jealousy!
Murray insists she’s fine with Dana and Lior dating.
She is very much not fine.
Part of what makes Murray such an entertaining protagonist is that she knows all the rules of romantic comedies. She teaches them. She analyzes them. And yet she is remarkably incapable of understanding her own romantic life.
Her jealousy is also wrapped up in her insecurities about Dana. Murray sees her best friend as more beautiful, more composed and more professionally impressive. Dana, of course, has insecurities of her own.
Things get even messier when Murray and Lior go shopping for Dana’s birthday and run into Murray’s commitment-phobic, on-again, off-again ex, Gur (Omer Etzion). Murray asks Lior to pretend they’re dating to make Gur jealous — and is caught off guard when Lior kisses her.
Was he just committing to the bit, or is this love triangle becoming something more?
Etzion is especially entertaining as Gur, the kind of man who is utterly convinced he is right even when he has absolutely no idea what is going on.
An unhealthy crush?
Dana has romantic complications of her own.
Her brilliant but demanding boss, Atias (Yoram Toledano), invites her to attend an important medical conference in Europe. The problem? The trip conflicts with Lior returning home.
As Dana’s relationship with Lior develops, so does an increasingly complicated dynamic with Atias, who is separating from his wife and wrestling with feelings he didn’t expect to have.
Toledano gives Atias a welcome complexity, playing him as both stern and vulnerable. When the normally meticulous doctor makes an uncharacteristic medical mistake, it becomes clear that his personal life may be affecting him more than he realizes.
You’re not supposed to vomit in a fish tank
Meanwhile, Gur begins reconsidering his relationship with Murray and decides he might actually be willing to give commitment a try.
Naturally, it does not go smoothly.
Without giving too much away, an evening involving illness, a fish tank and some spectacularly bad behavior becomes one of the series’ funniest sequences.
But that’s what “Bloody Murray” does particularly well: The most absurd moments still reveal something real about its characters. Sometimes you learn more about a potential partner when everything goes catastrophically wrong than you ever could over a perfect candlelit dinner.
“Bloody Murray” is an Israeli story that has nothing to do with war
For American audiences, one of the most refreshing aspects of “Bloody Murray” may simply be seeing an Israeli series whose central conflict has nothing to do with terrorism, espionage, or war.
While internationally successful Israeli shows like “Fauda” and “Tehran” revolve around national security, the crises in “Bloody Murray” are wonderfully ordinary: bad dates, complicated friendships, impossible apartment hunts, and wondering whether you’re falling behind while everyone else seems to have figured out adulthood.
That doesn’t mean the show ignores Israeli society. In one scene, Murray confronts a landlord who appears unwilling to consider her Arab friend as a potential tenant. But politics exists in the background of these characters’ lives rather than defining them.
“Bloody Murray” ultimately feels unmistakably Israeli while telling a story that could resonate almost anywhere.
Is the juice worth the squeeze?
Even Israeli celebrity culture gets dragged into Murray’s increasingly chaotic life.
While checking out an apartment, she encounters Israeli actor Ofer Schechter, playing himself, after he spills juice on her. Murray soon finds herself helping him prepare for an audition and wondering whether yet another chance encounter might be the universe trying to send her a message.
And that’s quintessential Murray: Practically anything can become evidence that her life is about to turn into the romantic comedy she has been waiting for.
A lot of laughs, but this one is the best
One of the series’ funniest moments comes courtesy of Dana.
When a woman arrives at the hospital unsure whether she wants an abortion, Dana becomes increasingly furious with the seemingly flippant man accompanying her. She finally lets him have it — only to discover that she has misunderstood a rather crucial part of the situation.
It’s funny, uncomfortable and exactly the kind of scene at which “Bloody Murray” excels: letting its characters confidently race toward conclusions before reality knocks them over.
All’s well that ends well?
I’m usually pretty good at predicting how a movie or television series is going to end.
“Bloody Murray” got me.
Saying much more would ruin the fun, but the finale makes some surprising choices while leaving plenty of room for the story to continue.
The accolades suggest I’m far from alone in my enthusiasm. The first season won Best Comedy Series at France’s Series Mania festival in 2022. More recently, “Bloody Murray” won five prizes in the comedy categories at the Israeli Television Academy Awards, including Best Comedy Series, Best Director, Best Script, Best Actress for Levov and Best Supporting Actress for Sela.
Great chemistry and even better writing
The series ultimately works because Levov and Sela are so good together.
Sela, one of Israel’s biggest television stars, is familiar to audiences from “The Beauty and the Baker” and “A Body That Works.” Levov previously starred in the acclaimed Israeli series “On the Spectrum.”
Here, Sela gives a more restrained performance as Dana, providing the perfect counterweight to Levov’s wonderfully unpredictable Murray.
The two have terrific chemistry. Their friendship feels lived-in — affectionate one minute and exasperated the next — and creator and writer Stav Idisis understands that the real love story at the center of “Bloody Murray” isn’t necessarily between either woman and a man. It’s between Murray and Dana.
The romantic entanglements keep the plot moving, but their friendship gives the show its heart.
What is ChaiFlicks?
Often described as the “Netflix of Jewish content,” ChaiFlicks specializes in Jewish and Israeli television and film.
Its library includes “Checkout” (“Kupa Rashit”), the hit Israeli sitcom set inside a chaotic supermarket, and “The New Black” (“Shababnikim”), about four yeshiva students who don’t exactly excel at following the rules.
The service is also home to “Shtisel,” the acclaimed drama starring Michael Aloni as Akiva Shtisel, a young Haredi artist trying to find love and his place within Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community.
Now “Bloody Murray” joins the lineup — and it deserves to find an audience well beyond Israel.
Across nine episodes, Murray and Dana make questionable decisions, fall for the wrong people, fight, reconcile and repeatedly discover that real life refuses to follow the rules of a romantic comedy.
The result is funny, messy and incredibly watchable.
Watching “Bloody Murray” is like ordering a drink at a bar and immediately knowing you’re going to want another. It isn’t just one of the funniest Israeli rom-coms in recent years; it’s one of the most entertaining rom-com series you’ll find, bar none.
Originally Published Aug 7, 2026 05:00AM EDT
