Joshua Z. Weinstein's film is very modest but never less than interesting in the insights it offers into this rarefied world on the edge of Manhattan.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 4, 2018

It's a film that just keeps getting stronger as it goes, unfolding almost imperceptibly and becoming deeper with each scene.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Feb 2, 2018

It goes within one of the world's most filmed cities to discover an environment rarely revealed to outsiders. But it also wins kudos for the emotional honesty of its uncomplicated narrative.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 11, 2017

This terrifically authentic look at life inside New York's Yiddish-speaking Hasidic community is a bittersweet treat - a vibrantly engaging portrait of down-to-earth lives that is affectionate, amusing and ultimately very moving.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 10, 2017

Whatever pickle he gets himself in, we can't help but root for Menashe.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2017

It is small and specific, admittedly, but it also tells a universal story about a father's struggle to hold on to the son he loves, and it tells this story tenderly, thoughtfully, beautifully.

| Dec 7, 2017

Menashe is a deeply felt and absorbing Yiddish-language drama about New York Hasidic Jews.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2017

A brave step into uncharted territories. The superb leading performance from Menashe Lustig elevates this beautifully observed film. Well worth your time.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2017

Doubling as a fascinating look at a subculture that is normally sealed off from the rest of us and a gently amusing comedy of manners, this manages to say an awful lot by, paradoxically, saying it endearingly gently.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 7, 2017

Menashe the film is so intimate and so nuanced in its depiction of the woes of Menashe the character that there's really no need for anything else.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 31, 2017

"Menashe" is a little slice of life, delivered with a knowing sense of truth.

| Original Score: B | Aug 18, 2017

The curious are welcome, but this one fits snugly in the category of "You Don't Have to Be Jewish, But..."

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 17, 2017

Weinstein normally directs documentaries, and "Menashe" has a fly-on-the-wall feel at times, particularly in the warmly believable interplay between father and son. The movie was filmed in Borough Park, N.Y., which adds to the atmosphere.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 17, 2017

Weinstein brings a palpable authenticity (attributable in part to a cast made up of local non-actors) to this universally resonant story, rendering it unique and specific in a meticulously detailed setting.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Aug 17, 2017

The subtle on-screen chemistry between father and son gives this sweet and poignant drama a solid emotional base.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 11, 2017

Delicately woven and sensitively told, director-writer Joshua Z Weinstein's ode to a shlemiel rings true.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 11, 2017

In scene after scene, "Menashe" strikes complex notes without telegraphing how the audience should feel.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 10, 2017

Some of the narrative developments and conversational tangents feel contrived, but "Menashe" has a rhythm (brisk but unforced) that speaks well of Weinstein's future in narrative storytelling.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 10, 2017

This is Weinstein's first dramatic feature; he's been a documentarian, and that comes through in his ability to show Menashe in the context of his world.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 10, 2017

At times sweet, but never patronizing, Menashe examines a world that might seem foreign or oppressive without ever turning its inhabitants into caricatures or figures of fun.

| Aug 2, 2017