Ushpizin
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Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 25 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.7 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

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  • Starring: Michal Bat-Sheva Rand, Shuli Rand
  • Summary: Director Gidi Dar's film, Ushpizin (roughly translated as "holy guests"), is a revelatory and humorous look at the daily lives of ultra-orthodox Jews learning, living and loving in modern-day Israel. (Picturehouse)

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 21 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 25
  3. Negative: 0 out of 25
  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    88
    Does what the best movies can do: take viewers to what might be unfamiliar places, into a culture with unique customs and traditions, and show, through drama and comedy, how the fundamental truths of the human experience need no translation.
  2. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    78
    The Israeli comedy Ushpizin begins something like Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" and ends like the Coen brothers' "Raising Arizona" – in between it's a wholly original movie.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    The new Israeli movie Ushpizin, a film about man's clumsiness and God's grace, is a touching and amusing tale that expands our horizon and also should open our hearts.
  4. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Hughes
    60
    A flawed but fascinating (and frequently funny) insight into a culture seldom explored on film from an insider's point of view.

See all 25 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7
  1. SylviaS.
    10
    I loved this film. I laughed, and cried, and was lifted up by the love at the heart of this movie. The acting of Shuli Rand and his real-life wife, Bat-Sheva is superb. The film does a fine job of shedding light on the hasidic community about which there is so much misunderstanding.… Expand
  2. JoeS.
    10
    This movie was superb. A most remarkable portrayal of the inherent beauty of faith.
  3. CarolM.
    10
    Awesome! Love this movie! So poignant! Got to get a copy! Can't get the song out of my head, either!
  4. ChadS.
    7
    The filmmaker's unwillingness to go all the way like Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" in dealing with the volatility of unwelcome guests within a pacific household hampers, but doesn't do irrevocable harm to a very unique film-going(or DVD-watching) experience. These two uncouth friends from the protagonist's past are genuinely menacing, so when the inevitable is circumvented by a collective change of heart in their attitudes towards Jewish Orthodoxy; "Ushpizin" ceases to be a real film and more like a promotion of religious ideology, the Hebrew equivalent to Christian films like "Left Behind". For the sake of religious tolerance, however, "Ushpizin" should be seen, even though it fritters away some very uncomfortable moments between the sanctified and the heathens at dinner-time. But really, only a certain Aussie would want this film to end like "Funny Games".… Expand

See all 7 User Reviews

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