“Unorthodox”: An Exceptionally Told Story

where to watch: Netflix

when to watch: when you are looking for a brilliant, engaging story. Not tragic, not violent, not particularly complex. Not funny or romantic or lighthearted either. Just an excellently told, compelling story. 

you should note: Inspired by the memoir Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of my Hasidic Rootsby Deborah Feldman; a TRUE feminist endeavor—created, produced, and directed by women. Also, I highly recommend the 20-minute feature about the “Making of Unorthodox,” but watch it after you watch the series.

tl;dr: A young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman flees her religious community and marriage to make a new life in Berlin. 

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If I had to describe Unorthodox in one word, it would be compelling. I started it late one night intending to watch just one episode and get a taste. Four hours later, I couldn’t even get myself to stop the 20 minute documentary about the “making of” from autoplaying. Days later, I found myself still thinking about Esty’s story and wishing for more.

Unorthodox is a story about a young woman finding her voice and her freedom. And boy, is it something to behold. Shira Haas is brilliant as a nineteen-year-old woman trying to escape the confines of her arranged marriage and hyper-religious community. 

Everything about this show is excellent—my only (selfish) complaint is that there weren’t more episodes. 

the storytelling

This story will suck you in. Within minutes, I was utterly invested in Esty’s story. From watching the trailer, I thought the show would be the story of a young Hasidic Jewish woman who discovers that married life is not for her, and “escapes” to Berlin. That is the basic outline of the show. However, the show expertly blends timelines, choosing to start the miniseries with the pivotal moment that Esty leaves her community. There are three narratives to follow in this series: Esty’s journey, Esty’s life in the Hasidic community, and the community’s search to bring Esty back. These three storylines are woven together seamlessly, and I commend the creators’ ability to do this without any overt visual cues (like “1 year earlier” or a colored filter). The writers have carefully managed the flow of information to keep us engaged but not too confused. 

the detail and nuance

This show portrays the Hasidic Jewish community with incredible care. I know very little about Hasidic Judaism, and it was fascinating to learn about their culture and motivations. Unorthodox does not try to explain the Hasidic customs, it properly employs the cardinal principle of storytelling—”show, don’t tell.” Sometimes you may even be confused by certain terms because characters speak to each other exactly as real members of the community would. Which brings me to another fascinating aspect of this show—the majority of it is in Yiddish.

Esty is from the Satmar community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Interestingly, Yiddish is the native language of people from this community. Did you know that there are people in Brooklyn whose native language is Yiddish? I certainly did not. As a linguistics student, it was fascinating to see how characters would sprinkle in English with their Yiddish. My understanding is that many of the actors in the show are actually native Yiddish speakers. The actor playing the rabbi, Eli Rosen, was the show’s resident Yiddish expert. 

I would also like to add that the irony of a Jewish woman “escaping” to Germany is not lost on the protagonist or the creators. This aspect of the narrative is adeptly explored, and for me, one of the elements of the show that elevated it from a simple “escape to freedom” story to one of the best shows I’ve watched in recent months. 

in conclusion

Ultimately, the story this miniseries tells is not particularly complex. However, it is the attention to detail, the superb acting, the unique community, and the brilliant storytelling choices that make Unorthodox a must-watch.  

I believe that in their best form, stories should cause us to empathize with perspectives we would not otherwise even consider. Unorthodox does that. 

What more can we ask of a story?