A Price Above Rubies

A Price Above Rubies

Year: 1998

Runtime: 117 mins

Language: English

Director: Boaz Yakin

DramaRomanceMoving relationship storiesFaith and religionReligious faith sin and forgiveness

About a young woman who is married to a devout Jew and the problems that trouble their marriage because of the woman wanting something more out of her life.

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Timeline & Setting – A Price Above Rubies (1998)

Explore the full timeline and setting of A Price Above Rubies (1998). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Late 20th century

The story unfolds in a contemporary late-20th-century Brooklyn. It depicts a society with arranged-marriage expectations, religious observance, and modern urban contrasts. The action moves through apartments, shops, a jewellery workshop, and public venues in New York, including Chinatown. The period frame emphasizes the tension between tradition and personal autonomy.

Location

Brooklyn, New York, Chinatown, New York, New York City jewellery district

Set in a dense Brooklyn neighborhood, the film also visits Chinatown and the city’s jewellery quarter. The setting blends a close-knit Hasidic world with the bustle of urban New York, showing both religious spaces and commercial streets. It’s a modern, intimate urban landscape where family, ritual, and desire collide. The city itself acts as a character, shaping Sonia's opportunities and constraints.

🗽 New York City 🕍 Hasidic community 💎 Jewellery trade

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:21

Main Characters – A Price Above Rubies (1998)

Meet the key characters of A Price Above Rubies (1998), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Sonia Horowitz (Renée Zellweger)

Sonia is a distressed, curious woman who yearns for beauty and emotional connectedness beyond her arranged marriage. Her awakening clashes with her husband’s rigid religiosity, driving a search for autonomy. She experiments with desire, risks alienation, and ultimately asserts her own needs over strict obligation.

💃 Liberation ⚖️ Tradition vs. Freedom 💔 Repression 🧭 Identity

Sender Horowitz (Christopher Eccleston)

A self-serving jeweler who wields power in his marriage. He cultivates a morally ambiguous lifestyle and treats Sonia as a means to satisfy his desires, not as an equal partner. His control and lack of genuine care highlight the conflict between appearance and ethical responsibility.

💰 Power 🤥 Hypocrisy 🗣️ Manipulation

Mendel Horowitz (Glenn Fitzgerald)

A devout Hasidic husband who prizes religious study and order, often at the expense of emotional intimacy. He is capable of kindness but emotionally distant, enforcing traditional rules. He remains protective of his son while navigating his own marriage’s breakdown.

🙏 Piety 🗝️ Control 👨‍👦 Family

Rachel (Julianna Margulies)

Sonia’s sister-in-law who embodies pragmatism and duty within the family. She becomes a gatekeeper in the custody crisis, upholding responsibility and tradition even as she witnesses Sonia’s turmoil. Her actions reflect the pressure of family loyalty in a tight-knit community.

👩‍👧 Family 🧭 Duty 💔 Strain

Ramon Garcia (Allen Payne)

Puerto Rican artist and jewellery designer who secretly pursues his craft while working in the jewellery quarter. He offers Sonia a space for creativity and a step toward independence, even as their relationship becomes complicated by power dynamics and desire. His artistic vision contrasts with the restrictive world around him.

🎨 Artistry 💎 Jewelry 💡 Innovation

Rebbe Moshe (John Randolph)

The community’s spiritual guide whose authority frames Sonia’s crisis. He embodies tradition, yet Sonia’s questions push him to a moment of unexpected warmth, revealing the tension between faith and individual yearning. He represents the moral center around which family life revolves.

🕊️ Spiritual authority 🧭 Guidance ⚖️ Tradition

Beggar Woman (Kathleen Chalfant)

A compassionate street figure who helps Sonia in her moment of vulnerability, guiding her toward a new space and offering shelter. She anchors the film’s mythic cadence, invoking legends that frame Sonia’s longing for transformation.

🪙 Poverty 🕯️ Compassion 🌟 Mentorship

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:21

Major Themes – A Price Above Rubies (1998)

Explore the central themes of A Price Above Rubies (1998), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🔥 Freedom vs Tradition

Sonia’s awakening collides with the strict rules of her Hasidic world. She questions what is sacred, seeking beauty and connection rather than obedience. The narrative follows her struggle to define personal desire within communal norms. It examines how tradition can protect as well as imprison.

💎 Beauty and Jewelry

Jewelry becomes Sonia's language of longing and agency. The design world Ramon inhabits becomes a vehicle for transformation and risk. The objects she encounters symbolize power, value, and rebellion against constraint. The jewelry trade frames the conflict between commerce and artistry.

🧭 Identity and Belonging

Sonia negotiates her place within family, faith, and her own desires. The story probes what it means to belong to a community while resisting its limits. Her journey toward self-definition tests loyalties and relationships. The film suggests that identity is forged through choice as much as tradition.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:21

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A Price Above Rubies Summary

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A Price Above Rubies Timeline

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A Price Above Rubies Timeline

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