Bad Shabbos | Comedy Spotlight

Comedy Spotlight

Director Daniel Robbins and actor Milana Vayntrub expected to attend

Every family has its tensions. But not every family has a dead body in the half bath off the kitchen. As this raucous ensemble comedy opens, engaged couple David and Meg are on their way to a Shabbat dinner with his family. But this isn’t a typical family gathering. Tonight they’ll be joined by Meg’s Catholic parents, traveling all the way to New York City from Wisconsin to meet their future in-laws. Pre-dinner cocktails, intended to take the edge off everyone’s nerves, instead trigger a childish prank with unintended consequences. Scrambling to present a sense of normalcy for their Midwestern guests, the family goes from faithfully observing traditions to creatively exploiting them, and creating a few new ones of their own.

Outstanding performances from Kyra Sedgwick, Method Man, and Catherine Curtin, among other familiar faces, play up the family antics, while rapid fire dialogue, a twisty script, and masterful editing drive this Upper West Side escapade’s chaotic momentum. Darkly hilarious with a warm heart, Bad Shabbos is a charmingly modern screwball comedy. — Laura Henneman

West Coast Premiere

Daniel Robbins is an NYC-based filmmaker who takes exciting concepts and grounds them with authentic performances, surprising humor, and propulsive energy.

His breakout film Pledge was a hit at Fantasia Film Festival and sold to IFC Midnight as well as a streaming deal with Hulu. He also won “Best Director” at Screamfest. Variety calls it a “lean and mean shocker,” the New York Times proclaims “...the director is willing to move beyond the tease of his setup to deliver a ringing indictment of popularity as the cheese in a deadly mousetrap,” and The Daily Beast calls it “a fleet, ferocious, and razor-sharp affair.”



His next two features are Citizen Weiner, which was boarded by Abso Lutely and Village Roadshow; and Bad Shabbos, which stars Kyra Sedgwick, Method Man, Jon Bass, David Paymer, Milana Vayntrub, and Ash Zukerman.

Daniel is repped by CAA and Grandview.