Matchmaking (Bochurim Tovim) is an Israeli film that offers a Jewish twist on the Romeo and Juliet story in a way that goes for comedy rather than tragedy.

I admit to being late in watching Matchmaking. But to be fair, it didn’t pique my interest during the Jewish or Israeli film festival circuit that year. Had I noticed Frank Ilfman was the composer, I’d have given it a chance. The sequel is currently making its way through the festival circuit but the first film still doesn’t have an American distributor. I was lucky enough to get a press screener, otherwise I wouldn’t be watching or covering the sequel. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to it in time for the Miami Jewish Film Festival.

Moti Bernstein is a Yeshiva Bochur–for English-speaking readers, this means he is an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish student attending a yeshiva. Every mother wants him for their daughter and every bride would want to marry him. He has a family background, loves to study, and to put it simply, matching with Moti would be a win for everyone. However, Moti doesn’t just want to marry anyone. Sure, everyone wants Moti to marry Naomi Friedlander (Marni Woolf)…everyone but Moti, that is. Matchmaker Malki (Irit Kaplan) is having none of it.

When Moti sees Nechami Biton (Liana Ayoun) with younger sister Elisheva (Naya Federman), he’s smitten. As far as he’s concerned, he can stop going out on shidduch dates because his heart has fallen only for her. Only none of the matchmakers are willing to set anything up between them. So much for matchmaking, right? Hell, Baruch (Maor Schwietzer) even tells Moti that she’ll never consider him unless he were blind. Moti gets the idea and while it shouldn’t be funny at all, he wakes up one morning and suddenly can’t see. Both Moti and the audience are the only ones who know the truth at first.

As the two get to know each other, Moti’s hijinks come to light in a way that could cancel the vort, let alone the engagement. If Baruch doesn’t show up at the right time, the whole thing could be called off. He’s been in the process of making his own amends and he finally caught on to why Moti did what he did. Erez Tadmor may have had some incredible foresight because the film leaves the door open for a sequel, which is playing the fest circuit in the US right now.

One doesn’t necessarily need to be familiar with the Ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jewish community to understand Matchmaking and its humor. Having some knowledge of how the community works is probably helpful, let alone Jewish customs in general. It’s not uncommon that an Ashkenazi Jew ends up marrying a Sephardic Jew–I’ve attended such weddings in the past–but it helps to stick to those with similar minhagim as your own. Moti is Ashkenazi while Nechami’s Moroccan family is Mizrahi. Customs during the year or services might be different but they have their own during Pesach. Unlike Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews can eat kitniyot.

The film’s title in English is Matchmaking but the Hebrew title, Bochurim Tovim, translates to Good Guys. I can definitely see why they didn’t go with the translation. The Hebrew title probably plays better with Hebrew-speaking audiences. In any event, the film became a blockbuster hit in Israel. Surprisingly, it only took home a single Ophir Award nomination for Supporting Actor (Maor Schwietzer).

I found Matchmaking to be a rather entertaining and engaging film. Given American politics, it is currently taking a miracle at the moment to not reach for my phone while watching a movie! Much to my surprise, I didn’t touch my phone at all during the 97-minute film. For what it’s worth, I started the film around 10:30 PM and it kept my interest from start to finish. That said, I’m looking forward to seeing how the story continues in Matchmaking 2.

DIRECTOR: Erez Tadmor
SCREENWRITERS: Erez Tadmor, Hava Divon & Yaki Reisner
CAST: Amit Rahav, Liana Ayoun, Maor Schwietzer, Irit Kaplan, Roy Assaf, Raymonde Amsallem, Guy Loel, Netta Shpigelman

United King Films released Matchmaking in theaters on September 15, 2022. Grade: 4/5

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