Netflix offers new comedy on an Orthodox Jew who falls for a non-Jewish woman

Set in Switzerland, ‘The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch’ features a Swiss-Israeli actor, dialogue in Yiddish and German

By Josefin Dolsten 5 November 2019, 6:25 am

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Joel Basman, a Swiss-Israeli actor, stars in "The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch." (YouTube screenshot via JTA)

JTA — A new Netflix rom-com may be its most Jewish offering yet.

“The Awakening of Motti Wolkenbruch” takes place in the Orthodox Jewish community in Zurich, Switzerland.

The titular character is a young man whose mother desperately wants him to marry a nice Jewish woman.

But Motti, who is played by the Swiss-Israeli actor Joel Basman, ends up falling for a non-Jewish student named Laura, whom he meets at university.

The film came out in Switzerland in 2018 but joined the Netflix lineup last month. It is based on a novel “Wolkenbruch’s Wondrous Journey Into the Arms of a Shiksa” by the Swiss-Jewish author Thomas Meyer, and features dialogue in Yiddish and German.