A young Jewish woman confronts heartbreak, family expectations, and her mother’s disapproval during her nephew’s bris in the short film Cut Off.

The Rosenbaum family has gathered together to celebrate the bris of their newest addition to the family. Unfortunately for daughter Sof (Sofie Rimler), it comes as her own life is falling part. She just broke up with her boyfriend, Adam, who is currently in medical school. As such, she arrives to the bris in something of an existential rut. All she wants to do is just move on and celebrate the family simcha. But as is always the case at such simchas, her mother Lisa (Gina Hecht) has other plans in mind. As the ceremony approaches, Sof finds herself backed into a corner where she has no choice but to come clean about what she’s been hiding.

The minute Sof shows up alone, you just know a comedy of errors is about to break out. Lisa never really gives her daughter a chance to explain that she broke up with Adam, instead assuming the two are engaged. And if that weren’t enough, Sof suddenly finds herself pressured to find a date among the bris guests. Easier said than done, of course—and as expected, there’s a hilarious montage of quick rejections.

While Sof and Lisa navigate their own tension during the bris for Talia’s (Lauren Schaffel) son, Esther Dinowitz (Randee Heller) and Milly Moskowitz (Melanie Chartoff) provide a running stream of gossip. If you catch the film at a festival—or once it makes its way online—make sure to stay through the credits.

Cut Off joins a growing list of Jewish short films, including Malka, that I would have happily covered at the 2025 Miami Jewish Film Festival if I hadn’t been so focused on the features. Coming from a comedy background myself, it immediately piqued my interest when I came across it on Instagram back in July. After watching it, it’s no surprise Miami audiences awarded it the Audience Award for Best Short.

If you know me, you know how much I value authentic Jewish representation. One thing I appreciate about Cut Off is how genuinely it captures that authenticity. It’s so much easier to buy into a film about Jews when actual Jews are in front of the camera. When non-Jews “play Jewish,” even with good intentions, it just doesn’t ring the same.

Cut Off is bound to resonate with many Jewish women—especially those with overbearing mothers. There’s something universally relatable (and painfully funny) about the pressure to have your life perfectly together, particularly around career or dating expectations. There’s a point where people start to see you as a failure if you don’t follow the traditional path. Even though plenty of Jews have found success as writers, I can’t tell you how many times my own parents have told me that being a film critic isn’t a “real job.” Sometimes it feels like a Jewish fetus isn’t considered viable until it gets its MD or JD.

Remi Rosmarin handles the screenplay from a story she co-wrote with Rimler, marking her debut as a screenwriter. If I’m being honest, Cut Off ranks among a handful of Jewish shorts I consider strong contenders for the 2025 Solzy Awards for Short Films. Setting it at a bris only heightens the humor—though I can’t help thinking a funeral might have made things even more hysterical.

Cut Off delivers 13 hysterical minutes audiences won’t regret watching.

DIRECTOR: Meg Swertlow
SCREENWRITER: Remi Rosmarin
CAST: Sofie Rimler, with Randee Heller and Melanie Chartoff, and Gina Hecht, Phil Abrams, Gary Rubenstein, Hunter Stiebel, Mathew Bohrer, Lauren Schaffel, Jennie Fahn, Jamie Zwick, Sami Kolko

Cut Off screens during the 2025 Nashville Jewish Film Festival as part of the Closing Night with The Property. Grade: 4.5/5

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