Between the Temples

2024 film by Nathan Silver

  • C. Mason Wells
  • Nathan Silver
Produced by
  • Tim Headington
  • Theresa Steele Page
  • Nate Kamiya
  • Adam Kersh
  • Taylor Hess
Starring
  • Jason Schwartzman
  • Carol Kane
  • Caroline Aaron
  • Robert Smigel
  • Madeline Weinstein
  • Matthew Shear
  • Dolly de Leon
  • Sheila Wise
CinematographySean Price WilliamsEdited byJohn Magary
Production
companies
  • Ley Line Entertainment
  • Fusion Entertainment
Distributed bySony Pictures Classics
Release dates
  • January 19, 2024 (2024-01-19) (Sundance)
  • August 22, 2024 (2024-08-22) (United States)
Running time
111 minutes[1]CountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBox office$1,012,082[2]

Between the Temples is a 2024 American comedy-drama film directed by Nathan Silver and written by Silver and C. Mason Wells. The film stars Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane, Dolly de Leon, Caroline Aaron, Robert Smigel, and Madeline Weinstein.

Between the Temples premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024, and was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics on August 22, 2024.

Plot

Over a year after his author wife Ruth died when she slipped on a patch of ice, cantor Ben Gottlieb is suffering a crisis of faith and has moved back in with his mothers, Judith and Meira. After a bar fight, he runs into Carla O'Connor, his widowed grade school music teacher. She comes to one of his classes, admitting that she has always wanted a bat mitzvah, but her parents's social standing as communists prevented this. Ben agrees to teach her and gets a ceremony approved by Bruce, the synagogue's rabbi.

As they become friendly, Ben brings a tape of his bar mitzvah to Carla's house to watch on her VCR. Her friend accidentally gives them drugged tea, and Ben hallucinates interactions with his younger self. Carla lets him sleep in her son Nat's bed, which he finds he sleeps comfortably in, having suffered from insomnia since Ruth's death. Nat and his family visit the next day and Carla invites him to dinner, where Nat, a staunch atheist, objects to the idea of participating in the bat mitzvah despite his family's interest.

Judith tries to set Ben up with Bruce's daughter Gabby, who reads Ruth's book and is excited by its sexual nature. She meets Ben near Ruth's grave and professes her attraction to him before they have sex. Carla has a stroke and Nat does not come to see her in the hospital, with Ben going in his stead. He presses Bruce to move her ceremony up to the upcoming weekend, meaning that she is invited to the Gottliebs' shabbat meal with Bruce's family in anticipation of it.

Ben professes his love at the dinner to Carla, wounding and humiliating the increasingly attracted Gabby. As Bruce and Judith lambast him, Carla flees and Meira encourages him to go after her. Ben does, but slips on ice and hits his head outside her house. She takes him inside and dresses his wound. Recalling her story of how the first bat mitzvah was performed in a home, Ben performs the ceremony in her backyard.

Cast

Production

Cast and crew of the film at the Berlinale 2024.

In May 2023, Schwartzman, Kane, and De Leon were confirmed to be starring in the film. Also in the confirmed cast were Caroline Aaron, Robert Smigel, Madeline Weinstein and Matthew Shear. It is produced by Ley Line Entertainment and Fusion Entertainment with producers Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Nate Kamiya, Adam Kersh and Taylor Hess.[7] Principal photography wrapped in early 2023 with filming locations including Kingston, New York.[8]

Release

The film premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2024.[9] In February, Sony Pictures Classics acquired distribution rights to the film.[10] It also screened at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival in the Panorama section.[11][12] It was later also added to the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival lineup, which ran in New York City from June 5-16 2024.[13][14] It was released on August 22, 2024.[15]

Reception

In the United States and Canada, the film made $647,757 from 576 theaters in its opening weekend.[16] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 38 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Immeasurably elevated by the chemistry between Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman, Between the Temples uses engrossing, character-driven dramedy to explore deeply relatable aspects of the human experience."[17]

References

  1. ^ "Between the Temples". Sundance Film Festival. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  2. ^ "Between the Temples". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on July 14, 2024. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Lodge, Guy (January 19, 2024). "'Between the Temples' Review: Jason Schwartzman Gives Carol Kane a Belated Bat Mitzvah in a Winningly Off-Kilter Comedy". Variety. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  4. ^ Complex, Valerie (January 19, 2024). "'Between The Temples' Review: Nathan Silver Drama Finds Harmony In Healing – Sundance Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  5. ^ https://www.popentertainmentarchives.com/post/between-the-temples-a-popentertainment-com-movie-review
  6. ^ Ehrlich, David (January 19, 2024). "'Between the Temples' Review: Jason Schwartzman Plays a Grieving Cantor in Wry, Hilarious, and Very Jewish Screwball Comedy About Life After Death".
  7. ^ Lang, Brent (May 10, 2023). "Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane Starring in 'Between the Temples,' an 'Anxious Comedy' About a Cantor and His Student (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on June 22, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  8. ^ Friedman, Gabe (May 11, 2023). "Jason Schwartzman is a cantor and Carol Kane is his bat mitzvah student in comedy 'Between the Temples'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  9. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony; Patten, Dominic (December 6, 2023). "Sundance Unveils Packed 2024 Lineup That Includes A.I., Pedro Pascal, Kristen Stewart, Satan, Devo & Steven Yeun". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 11, 2024. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
  10. ^ Goodfellow, Melanie (February 9, 2024). "Sony Pictures Classics Takes Worldwide Rights To Nathan Silver's 'Between The Temples' With Jason Schwartzman & Carol Kane". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 9, 2024.
  11. ^ Shafer, Ellise (January 17, 2024). "Martin Scorsese's 'The Departed' to Screen at Director's Berlin Golden Bear Ceremony". Variety. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  12. ^ "Between the Temples". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  13. ^ Dunn, Jack (April 17, 2024). "Tribeca Festival Reveals 2024 Feature Film Lineup Including New Movies With Lily Gladstone, Jenna Ortega and Michael Cera". Variety. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  14. ^ "Between the Temples:Spotlight Narrative". Tribeca. Retrieved April 21, 2024.
  15. ^ Grobar, Matt (April 24, 2024). "Sony Pictures Classics Dates Sundance Comedy Between The Temples Starring Jason Schwartzman & Carol Kane". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  16. ^ "Domestic 2024 Weekend 34". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 26, 2024.
  17. ^ "Between the Temples". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
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Films directed by Nathan Silver