What happens when we die and become worm meat? The question does more than cross the mind of Shmuel (Géza Röhrig), a Hasidic cantor and father of two mourning his wife’s recent death from cancer. So obsessed over the thought of her slow decomposition is he that Schmuel solicits the help of Albert (Matthew Broderick), a goyisha-kop community college instructor, to find an answer. What begins as a forced relationship eventually relaxes and takes hold, but not before we’re asked to swallow a few contrivances. It’s tasteless in its likening of Shmuel’s wife to a dead pig, objectionable when it comes to badgering obvious jokes, and borderline anti-Semitic in the way others view Shmuel as a Yidlach from another planet. Come to think of it, these seemingly objectionable traits combine to give the film its honest outlook. Shawn Snyder’s black comedy works best when focusing on Shmuel’s home life, and not when it’s aiming for cheap laughs. (Albert’s inability to pronounce Shmuel was funny the first dozen times.) (2018) — Scott Marks
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