The Forward

PJ Grisar The Forward Oct 6, 2026 Zlotowski masterfully sketches a French Jewish family and all its messy intersections in a society that privileges the principle of laïcité, the state religion of secularism. Go to Full Review A Private Life (2025) 82% - -

PJ Grisar The Forward Oct 6, 2026 A sensitive, if at times excessive, portrait of family life grounded in an uncertain past. Go to Full Review Tell Me Everything (2026) 77% - -

Simi Horwitz The Forward Jan 16, 2026 3/4 At its core, the film explores Jewish identity, unity and survival. Go to Full Review Shttl (2022) 88% - -

Olivia Haynie The Forward Jan 2, 2026 Somehow, the film has little to say about the Holocaust itself. Go to Full Review My Neighbor Adolf (2022) 44% 90%

PJ Grisar The Forward Dec 18, 2025 It slaps a narrative fig leaf over the interesting bits. Go to Full Review David (2025) 80% - -

PJ Grisar The Forward Dec 4, 2025 A rich Jewish text that alternates between wish fulfillment and nightmare. ... In this epic of chutzpah, we have a mature work via a singularly immature avatar. Go to Full Review Marty Supreme (2025) 93% - -

PJ Grisar The Forward Nov 11, 2025 Vanderbilt tries to pack too much information into Nuremberg, leaving us with a movie that has to tell rather than show. The result is something more educational than evocative. Go to Full Review Nuremberg (2025) 72% - -

Olivia Haynie The Forward Oct 9, 2025 With no elaboration or editorializing, it doesn’t feel like the film is helping clarify or challenge the audience's preconceived notions about the conflict. And though the footage is Swedish, it's unclear what, if anything, that lends to the conversation. Go to Full Review Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 (2024) 91% - -

Simi Horwitz The Forward Oct 3, 2025 The hallmark of the film is the joyous merging of old comic Jewish stereotypes — think overbearing but well-meaning matriarch — with new comic Jewish stereotypes. Go to Full Review One Big Happy Family (2025) - - - -

PJ Grisar The Forward Sep 25, 2025 The film insists it is about grief, but its heavy hand swipes aside more provocative and pressing questions baked into its conceit. Go to Full Review Eleanor the Great (2025) 68% - -

Dan Friedman The Forward Aug 26, 2025 Hemda (Bliss) is a profound account of what it is to continue the hard work of living and loving in the wake of illness, disappointment and missteps — which is to say, of living with humanity. Go to Full Review Hemda (2024) - - - -

Dan Friedman The Forward Aug 26, 2025 I went to see This Is My Mother based on little more than trust in the NYJFF curators and a fascination with the work of French (Tunisian, Jewish) actress Jaoui. I was not disappointed: Jaoui is the heart of the film, making a watchable film unmissable. Go to Full Review This Is My Mother (2023) - - - -

Olivia Haynie The Forward Jul 24, 2025 The writing is hammy, the dialogue overexpository, and although the cast’s performances are heartfelt, it’s not enough to compensate for cheesy lines … [But] the film is notable for being a positive deviation from the typical portrayal of Jews in movies. Go to Full Review Guns & Moses (2024) 73% - -

Olivia Haynie The Forward Jun 4, 2025 Breaking Silence has a lot to offer both for those who already identify as Ian fans and those who may be discovering the singer for the first time. The film captures Ian’s personal story, exposing fans to parts of her family and romantic life. Go to Full Review Janis Ian: Breaking Silence (2024) 100% - -

Simi Horwitz The Forward Jun 3, 2025 A deceptively simple film that explores sexuality and desire within an insular and restrictive Haredi community ... Though the film offers a harsh critique of its world, it is never strident or even obvious. Go to Full Review Pink Lady (2024) - - - -

Olivia Haynie The Forward Dec 12, 2024 The film could have painted a simpler picture of intercultural unity. [But it] refuses to shy away from how difficult and emotional the work can be, which is what makes the film so powerful. Go to Full Review All God's Children (2024) - - - -

Jenny Singer The Forward Dec 10, 2024 Eisenberg’s movie is interested in pain. It just doesn’t offer much insight into Jewish pain. Go to Full Review A Real Pain (2024) 96% - -

PJ Grisar The Forward Dec 4, 2024 The film takes the threat of groups like the Order seriously, but not the conditions that give rise to them. Go to Full Review The Order (2024) 93% - -

Mira Fox The Forward Nov 18, 2024 D The Carpenter makes no attempts to authentically portray life and practices in ancient Israel. It doesn’t even portray biblical events. The two plot lines — MMA and Jesus — have seemingly nothing to do with each other. Go to Full Review The Carpenter (2023) - - - -

Mira Fox The Forward Nov 18, 2024 B If 'Hot Frosty' had been this year's Hanukkah movie — most streaming platforms seem to make one per year, amidst the Christmas glut — there would have been so much more lore to mine. Go to Full Review Hot Frosty (2024) 77% - -