Movie #2109 "Unorthodox" (season 1, netflix) I really liked this one --- I felt like I learned so much about the Hasedic jews. I was mesmerized by the lead girl --- she was so good --- the way she walked, the way she talked, dressed, her mannerisms........ I was really pulled in from the start. The story follows her young marriage (arranged) to a rather weak, but with some kindness in his eyes, orthodox jew who believes what he is told to believe through his religion. They have a rocky start with sex (kind of like " Bridgeton" but then a little bit more complex because just a few discussions about it wouldn't solve the problem) and there's stress upon stress to have a child in this environment (again like Bridgerton) but to the point where her mother-in-law is kept in the loop all about it! Yikes! Esty (short for Esther) loves music and you can tell she isn't so much "married" to all the rules, so it gets to be too much and she jumps ship --- just leaves, gets on a plane and goes to Berlin, of all places. (really didn't know why a jew who knows all about the Holocaust would make this a #1 place, except her mom lives here now, so maybe it gave her comfort just knowing that she wouldn't be completely alone? it's only a guess because she doesn't go to see her mom until she absolutely has to --- to use her mom's address for some audition papers she needs) It is not a surprise that her love for music brings her to a conservatory where she sleeps a few nights until she is caught and then helped to find a place to camp for a while. From there, the story unfolds how she tries to start a new life, while her husband and cousin go out to find her. It is slow going, but the back and forth editing of the two leads helps. Still this show is full of pauses and quietude, just because of the hesitation and cerebral thinking of the main character. When it was over, I was surprised because I didn't know it would be done in 4 parts (duh!) and I was willing to see much more, so that speaks for its ability to get me emotionally involved in it. I hope there's a second season, but it did appear somewhat finished if there isn't one. I'd give it 4.5 and recommend it. It does have a lot of subtitling --- not all, but most is in Yiddish!
"UNORTHODOX" 3 hours, 33 mins 4 parts 2020
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