Summary
A family comes together for Shabbat dinner inBad Shabbos, which just premiered atTribeca Film Festival, including David and his recently-converted-to-Judaism fiancée Meg. While the biggest pressure of the night is originally introducing Meg’s parents to David’s family, things take a turn when one of the guests dies. Questions of accident or murder permeate the air as the evening devolves into chaos as the family tries to figure out what to do.
Bad Shabboswalks a delicate line between outlandish comedy and suspense-filled tension by combining the family comedy genre with elements of a thriller story. Daniel Robbins helmed this project both as the co-writer, with Zack Weiner, and director, bringing his horror experience into play with the comedy style inspired byclassics likeMeet The Parents.Bad Shabbosboasts a star-studded cast led by Kyra Sedgwick (The Summer I Turned Pretty), Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Jon Bass, Milana Vayntrub, David Paymer, and Meghan Leathers, each of whom brings genuine heart and outstanding comedic timing to their performances.
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Screen RantinterviewedBad Shabbosdirector Daniel Robbins along with stars Kyra Sedgwick and Cliff “Method Man” Smith. Robbins explained how his experience with horror influenced him and the style of comedy he was inspired by. Sedgwick shared how her character is different from others she has played in the past, while Smith revealed why his character has such a strong bond with the family.
Robbins revealed which iconic comedies influenced him when crafting the comedy style forBad Shabbos. He also shared what inspired the twist that takes this movie from a classic comedy and adds the layer of tension with the death that motivates every decision this family makes.
Daniel Robbins: The goal going into it was to make a comedy that felt like the comedies I watched growing up. Meet the Parents,My Big Fat Greek Wedding, those types of movies that have very, very tight scripts, big laughs, heart, and show and authentic subculture. We just thought if we could take that type of movie and give it a thriller engine, which just adds so much tension and craziness, that if it can somehow click together and then somehow it did, then we got the best cast possible.
Kyra Sedgwick: We got the best cast possible because he wrote a great script. It was like undeniably great.
Daniel Robbins: Zack [Weiner], the co-writer too, and Adam [Mitchell] the producer, all helped with that script. It’s nice that they read it because most actors don’t really read scripts anymore, but they read it and believed in this project, even though all I made before this was a low budget horror movie. So it shows tremendous creative conviction from the both them.
Cliff Smith: And faith.
Kyra Sedgwick: Yeah, that’s right. It’s all faith, right? I mean, you just got to close your nose and just jump in the pool. You just hope for the best, but you never know. You never, never know.
Kyra, what drew you to Ellen and how does she stand out from other characters you’ve played in the past?
Kyra Sedgwick: Well, I don’t think I’ve ever played a Jewish mother per se. And such a Jewish mother in every way, just no holds barred. I loved her conviction around tradition and how incredibly important that felt to her. I loved how much she cared about her family and needed her family close. I totally can relate to the notion that no one’s good enough for your child, ever. She made me laugh.
The whole thing made me laugh and I love that she learned something in the piece. On top of all the other things that the movie is, she has an arc, a great arc where she’s like, God, I’ve been sort of tough on this girl and I really don’t need to be. She’s lovely and we should be so lucky. She is a member of the family. She doesn’t need to jump through any more hoops. I just loved her to pieces. I thought she was great.
Cliff, I love Jordan so much. Can you talk to me about why he’s so ride or die for this family?
Cliff Smith: I love Jordan too. I think especially in the service industry, when people show kindness to someone, that is usually off the radar to people more upper echelon, it forms a bond because you can see that even though the two bodies are in different situations, they meet a common ground with love, friendship, honor, loyalty. Once you see this movie, you’ll see how this family operates. Who wouldn’t love a family like this?
Robbins broke down how his experience with horror helped his approach to comedy withBad Shabbos. He noted how many comedies"can drift"and he wanted the pacing to have that strong engine with building tension and a tight script that the pacing of horror helped him to prepare.
Kyra Sedgwick: Such a smart thing to say, by the way, wow, we’re all very impressed down here. Okay, answer. Come up with a good enough answer to match that question.
Daniel Robbins: I think that horror really, you get a sense of tightness and pace and energy that inform this comedy. Where I feel like a lot of comedies now kind of drift and this has a really strong engine. You’re right that they’re very similar where there’s a lot of building tension and timing, but the main difference is that in comedy you need perfect timing with the best performance in the world. Somehow they pulled it [off]. They get a plus laughs, which are very rare. That comes from combination both.
Cliff Smith: He’s very humble.
Kyra Sedgwick: Exactly, exactly. No, he really is.
Kyra and Cliff, is there a moment you each kind of remember when a scene partner really knocked out of the park and kind of helped almost elevate your own?
Kyra Sedgwick: I’m going to take that one first. Because every single fricking thing [Cliff] did, I was like, Are you kidding? I’ve always respected him as a performer and an actor, but this kind of stylized comedy there’s just a very small target it feels like to me. I don’t know if you feel that way, but I do think that comedy is harder than drama. I just think it’s a smaller target, and this piece is very stylized, like bam, bam, bam. It’s very like Billy Wilder, Frank Capra kind of dialogue to me and for people to nail it, it was surprising to me. I just had no idea that he could be that fricking funny. I was dead. I was dying.
I mean, it was really hard to work with it actually, because it was like all I wanted to do was laugh and just mouth agape like, Oh my God, this is the most incredible thing I’ve ever seen. And he’s adorable beyond, and you just love the character so much. But the moment you ask for a moment, and I’ll say the moment is when he comes in and takes the family to school with this fantasy of this character, the dead Benjamin. I mean, you’re just sitting there and it was a great moment.
Cliff Smith: For me, meeting this lady [Kyra] was first and foremost, great person, love her. Everyone was just so A game. It took a few days, but I mean-
Cliff Smith: It just felt so authentic and real.
Kyra Sedgwick Taught Cliff Smith “How To Humble Yourself And Show Humility Around Others”
Robbins also explained the casting process forBad Shabbos, including how rare it is to find actors willing to read and take a chance on a project. Smith shared how working with Sedgwick inspired him to still learn and grow as an artist, noting her humility as a major inspiration.
Daniel Robbins: The casting process was me and Adam, the producer, we worked with, Seth White, Cody Beke, Daniel Frankel, the casting directors. We made a list of who would be the best possible people, assuming they’d say no, then you move on and they’d keep going down the list. And then they actually read the script and then just agreed to do it. So it was pretty straightforward in there.
Kyra Sedgwick: Never happens.
Daniel Robbins: Yeah, never happens. It never happens. Also you expect that once you get to set, they’re very high caliber best actors in the world, but what makes these two especially special is that they’re true artists. Where Kyra, you’ve been acting since you were?
Kyra Sedgwick: 16
Daniel Robbins: And Cliff has been making music for just as long. So when they show up on set, they’re not looking, Oh, how can I be catered to? They’re present just trying to make the best art possible. When they do that, the whole cast and crew just lock in. So when you watch this. It is complete electricity that stems from the top.
Cliff Smith: You work with someone of Kyra’s caliber, man. It’s a big learning experience as well as fun, especially in between scenes. It’s very fun, but it’s a big learning experience on how to not just be present in the moment, but how to humble yourself and show humility around others.
Kyra Sedgwick: Oh my God, that’s so nice. I think that’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten. Not even kidding. Seriously, you try not to be an a–hole and sometimes it pays off. Sometimes people notice.
Kyra, can you talk to me about how Daniel stands out as a director from others that you’ve worked with before?
Kyra Sedgwick: Well, first of all, he wrote this great script. So I think that you’re immediately kind of enthralled and excited about somebody who sees the world that way. Clearly he had a vision from the beginning just on the page. And then as soon as we got to set and we saw, I mean for me, when I saw the lighting and I saw the framing choices and stuff like that. I was like, Oh, okay, so he knows how to tell this story and also tell it visually. Honestly, what I felt the most in terms of direction that I got from him was just pure joy and giggles on the other side. So much so that we couldn’t use takes sometimes it’s too loud.
I feel like when notes did come in, they were super specific. I think sometimes when things are so strong on the page and you cast them well, and you’re working closely with your DP, there’s not a ton of work you need to do with the actors, honestly. So I think it was a little bit here and a little bit there, but mostly just creating a safe, fun, joyful environment where Matt, yeah, Matt really knew what was what he wanted when he needed, and that was great. And we just had a great crew too.
An engaged interfaith couple are about to have their parents meet for the first time over a Shabbat dinner when an accidental death gets in the way.
Bad Shabbospremiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 10 and is currently awaiting distribution.
