By Asia Samachar | Movie Review |
As headlines today are dominated by the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran—where missile strikes, air raids and regional instability have once again placed Israel at the centre of global attention —it is worth turning to a quieter, deeply personal story about identity, belonging and choice among people of Israeli and Jewish origin.
This is a story where courage emerges quietly, not through noise or conflict, but through the deeply personal act of choosing one’s own life.
Unorthodox, created by Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski and directed by Maria Schrader, is inspired by Deborah Feldman’s book Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots. Grounded in real experiences, it offers a rare, intimate portrayal of life inside the Satmar Hasidic community of Williamsburg, New York.
Notably, it became the first Netflix series primarily performed in Yiddish, lending authenticity to its depiction of a world often unseen on screen. At its centre is Esther “Esty” Shapiro, played by Shira Haas, whose performance conveys both vulnerability and quiet defiance.
Esty’s arranged marriage and the intense expectations placed upon her—particularly the pressure to bear children—become suffocating forces. Her eventual escape to Berlin is not just geographic; it is existential. Berlin, historically symbolic for Jewish trauma and renewal, becomes the space where she begins to reconstruct her identity.
Music plays a crucial role in this transformation. It is not merely artistic expression, but a vehicle for autonomy—a way for Esty to articulate a self long suppressed. The series carefully balances empathy for tradition with an unflinching look at its constraints, avoiding caricature while still confronting its emotional costs.
At its core, Unorthodox asks whether freedom can be attained without fragmentation. Its answer is nuanced: freedom carries loss—of community, certainty, and belonging—but it also enables rebirth. Esty’s journey suggests that identity is not abandoned when one leaves tradition; it is redefined through choice.
Ultimately, the series argues that while the price of freedom is steep, the cost of silence is far greater.
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