Bad Shabbos

David and Meg’s wedding weekend spirals into chaos when Adam, furious at Benjamin’s relentless bullying, laces the bully’s drink with powerful laxatives. Benjamin, already suffering from colitis, collapses in pain, hits his head, and dies. The family discovers the body just as Meg’s parents arrive, and panic erupts: exposing the accident would ruin Adam’s future and shatter the fragile peace of the Shabbos gathering.

Desperate, the relatives concoct a frantic plan to make it look as if Benjamin simply disappeared in his own apartment—a “New York death.” Jordan, the building’s doorman, is roped into erasing the security footage and helping hide the corpse. When the garbage cart is ready to transport the body, the doorman on the next shift appears, forcing the group to improvise. In a frantic scramble, Jordan tosses the body from a balcony, missing the cart entirely, and the stunned street witnesses are left staring at a falling corpse. Just as the police knock, Jordan produces a handwritten note supposedly penned by Benjamin, claiming he took his own life out of unbearable stress. The note, together with the missing security tape, convinces the authorities that no foul play occurred, and the family is cleared.

In the film’s closing moments, the surviving members gather for Benjamin’s modest funeral, where they confront the tangled web of secrets that now bind them. Meg’s parents, having learned the truth about the “white” Benjamin, bargain for a place at future holidays—Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas—no matter how they clash with Jewish celebrations. The uneasy truce restores a fragile harmony, leaving the audience to wonder how far a family will go to protect one of its own, even when the price is a hidden murder.

Last Updated: December 28, 2025 at 10:49