Holy Rollers

self Sam Gold is a mild-mannered, twenty-year-old Orthodox Jewish man who lives with his large, close-knit family in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. In 1998, he balances work at his father Mendel’s fabric store with his studies as he trains to become a rabbi, all while the family plans a traditional match for him with Zeldy Lazar. Yet the economic gap between their families weighs on Sam, and he worries whether he can provide for a future wife and a larger household.

Sam’s path takes a dangerous turn when he and his best friend [Leon] embark on a shadowy opportunity offered by Leon’s brother [Yosef] and his enigmatic boss, the Israeli [Jackie]. Their assignment appears harmless at first: a trip under the guise of visiting a rabbi in Atlantic City, followed by a stop in Amsterdam and a task to carry a briefcase that supposedly contains medicine. But back in New York, a turn of events—prompted by a remark from Maxim, Yosef’s muscle—reveals the truth: the briefcase holds pure ecstasy. Despite Leon’s misgivings about Yosef and the operation, Sam is drawn to the money and the risk, and he decides to press on.

As Sam becomes more deeply involved, he gains a foothold in Jackie’s operation, routinely traveling to Amsterdam to pick up suitcases and, crucially, recruiting other young, devout Jews to serve as mules who trust him as one of their own. In the mix, Sam encounters Rachel, a liberal-minded Jewish woman who forms a complicated bond with him as he navigates a world he once found repulsive. Their nights blend alcohol, ecstasy, and the adrenaline of an enterprise that seems dangerously easy to justify. Sam’s growing influence—along with new ties to Yosef and to Rachel—opens doors and deepens the pull of the illicit operation, even as he begins to rethink his future path, including leaving the yeshiva.

As the operation expands, Sam’s family life unravels. The illicit business becomes widely known in their Orthodox neighborhood, and his parents ultimately eject him from their home to protect the family’s reputation. Sam uncovers a troubling truth: Yosef has been skimming money from Jackie through side deals. Fearful of the consequences, Sam objects and resists, but after a failed deal, he finds himself entangled in a tense confrontation with Jackie, who heads to a nightclub while Sam stays behind. Rachel makes a bold but failed attempt to urge Sam to run away with her, and the couple’s flirtation adds another layer of tension to an already perilous situation.

A heated argument erupts when Sam voices his opposition to shipping street ecstasy—drugs that mix with stronger substances—into America. Jackie rebuffs him, and the rift widens as Sam tries to persuade Rachel to escape with him to Lithuania. Rachel’s decision hardens, and Sam chooses to press on, accepting greater risk. The consequences materialize quickly: the unwitting mules, including Sam, are caught by drug-sniffing dogs, and arrests follow.

Sam, who now no longer dresses as an Orthodox Jew, makes a narrow escape at customs while the others are apprehended. He heads to warn Yosef, who is high at a nightclub, but Yosef urges a flight to the West Coast to lie low with a cousin. Sam refuses to flee and returns to his childhood home, where he is met by Leon—now married to Zeldy and studying to become a rabbi, just as Sam once planned. Realizing that arrest is inevitable, Sam stands on the front steps, overwhelmed by fear and tears, as distant sirens and a growing police presence close in.

The epilogue reveals the long-term aftermath: Sam and the mules spend 28 months in a federal boot camp, during which they become informants for Jackie and Yosef. Across six months from 1998 to 1999, the operation allegedly smuggled over a million ecstasy tablets into the United States. Jackie and Yosef receive 16 years in prison for drug conspiracy, Rachel earns a year for her participation, and Sam and Mendel are pictured together during a visit, suggesting a fragile reunion and a return to family life after the upheaval.

Last Updated: November 22, 2025 at 15:58