Jonah Feingold stars as a filmmaker having an adult bar mitzvah in his new comedy, 31 Candles, debuting at the Miami Jewish Film Festival.

Anyone familiar with Feingold’s work by now would know of his love for the classic romantic comedies. It’s no surprise that the homage starts with the opening credits, displaying the key cast members at once rather than through single or double credit cards. Not many filmmakers display the cast like this in the current era of filmmaking. But anyway, this one takes more of a biographical approach than previous films in his filmography. Rather than stick to being behind the scenes, Feingold inserts himself as one of the stars. Honestly, I don’t like having to compare 31 Candles to a Woody Allen movie but there’s so much here that reminds me of classic Woody Allen movies. There’s just something about being Jewish and neurotic! If Feingold continues starring in his films, I would not be opposed. He’s got an excellent grasp for the material.

Leo Kadner (Jonah Feingold) is a 30-year-old filmmaker and much like Feingold in real life, he has a history of making Xmas movies for a billionaire selling drones across America. Of course, he’s also a Letterboxd addict. Anyway, films about Jewish rituals or holidays can be rather niche. They might play better for Jewish audiences but many end up finding distribution with specialty distributors rather than larger studios. Anyway, Feingold was a few days away from going into production for 31 Candles during the EXmas press tour in early November 2023. If you look closely, you can see a movie theater marquee advertising DOC NYC.

What we learn about Leo is that he is in a situationship with Molly (Djouliet Amara) and not looking for real love. He’s both on and off the dating apps. Everything changes when he reunites with his camp crush, Eva Shapiro (Sarah Coffey), while attending his nephew’s bris very early in the film. He quickly learns that Eva is working as a bar and bat mitzvah tutor. Never having a bar mitzvah, he decides to finally have one on his 31st birthday. He’s somewhat hesitant because of having divorced parents–Mark (Seth Barrish) and Susan (Jackie Sandler)–living on both sides of Central Park. The question soon becomes how much is for himself and how much is just so he can hang out with his camp crush? What will he do for his Mitzvah Project? Throughout much of the film, Leo consults with his grandmother, Lila (Caroline Aaron), about what to do.

Feingold uses the script to comment on the differences between American and French films. There’s also the classic clothing montage before going on a date. Unlike most films, this one explains the rules as Leo breaks the fourth wall. Leo does turn to the dating apps, where he also is confronted with antisemitism. Antisemitism on dating apps is an all too regular occurrence these days. But to experience while the date is taking place?!? No wonder he turns to bodega owner Jaya (Lori Tan Chinn) just to vent his frustration.

In terms of the comedy, the film is continually engaging as it moves throughout its 90-minute runtime. The cinephile in me was pleasantly pleased with Feingold’s script commenting on films in general. There’s also LGBTQ representation in the story, too. However, the press screener I watched was unfinished as it didn’t have end credits. It did contain additional dialogue, which makes me assume that there’s a tag scene playing along the credits. Whether it’s teasing a sequel or just letting us know what Leo’s future will look like in general, I don’t know.

Many Jews celebrate their bat or bar mitzvah when they turn 12 or 13–girls at 12, boys at 13. Having an adult bar mitvzah is not uncommon. In fact, it’s rather common for grown men to have a bar mitzvah at Chabad. Most of the time, it’s because they weren’t religious growing up and end up getting an Aliyah during the service. It could be during the weekly Torah readings taking place on Monday, Thursday or Shabbos morning. Additional opportunities for Torah readings include Shabbos afternoon, Rosh Chodesh and various chagim throughout the year. While Orthodox and Chabad shuls stick to an annual cycle, other denominations–such as Reform or Conservative–read the Torah in a triennial cycle. Weekday minyan tends to take place in a shul’s Beit Midrash rather than the larger sanctuary.

When Leo finally has his bar mitzvah, the service is sparsely attended inside a very spacious shul. I grew up in a Conservative shul before later becoming observant and davening at an Orthodox or Chabad shul–it makes zero sense for a shul to be so empty during a bar mitzvah service. In theory, there would be regular shulgoers and not just family or close friends attending. The other thing is the Torah portion. 31 Candles makes it very clear that Leo’s birthday is December 26. I have to double check what year the film takes place but the film has Leo reciting from the 7th weekly Torah portion, Vayetzei. The annual Torah cycle begins following Simchat Torah so the parsha was read on December 7, 2024. It generally falls in mid-to-late November or early December, depending on the Jewish calendar.

If you’re a stickler for Torah portions sticking to the proper place on the calendar, the selection of Vayetzei as the Torah parsha will pose a problem. Thematically, one can understand why the filmmakers decided on this particular parsha. It’s just that they are reading it later in the calendar than they should. Seeing as how they filmed in late 2023, a Thanksgiving weekend birthday would have made better sense rather than late December. Much like 2023, this particular parsha will be read over Thanksgiving week in 2025, too.

In as much as 31 Candles is a romantic comedy paying homage to classic films, it is a coming-of-age film touching on Jewish themes.

DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER: Jonah Feingold
CAST: Caroline Aaron, Djouliet Amara, Seth Barrish, Megan Bitchell, Sarah Coffey, Lori Tan Chinn, Catherine Cohen, Joey Dardano, Derrick Delgado, Jonah Feingold, Noa Fisher, Jared Freid, Judy Gold, Zoe Hoffman, Antoinette LaVecchia, Dale Moss, Larry Owens, Hannah Pilkes, Kareem Rahman, Jackie Sandler, Lauren Servideo, Talia Suskauer, Kuhoo Verma, Katarina Zhu

31 Candles holds its world premiere during the 2025 Miami Jewish Film Festival. Grade: 4/5

Please subscribe to Solzy on Buttondown and visit Dugout Dirt.