FLOATERS, THE
(director/writer: Rachel Israel; screenwriters: Andra Gordon, Amelia Brain, Brent Hoff, story by Becky, Shai, & Lily Korman; cinematographer: Daniel Vecchione; editor: Chelsea Taylor; cast: Jacki Tohn (Nomi), Sarah Podemski (Mara), Steven Guttenberg (Manny, counselor), Aya Cash (Rabbi Rachel), Nina Bloomgarten (Lindsey), Judah Lewis (Jonah), Jack Ryan (Wetspot), Jakob Moskovitz (One-Nut), Jillian Jordyn (Delilah 2), Bekah Zornosa (Delilah 1), Thani Brant (Tai), Seth Green (Daniel), Jonathan Silverman (Parent); Runtime: 101; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Andra Gordon, Becky Korman, Lily Korman, Shai Korman; Brainstorm Media; 2025)
“You don’t have to be Jewish to attend this movie, but it helps.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Oy gevelt! a Jewish summer camp comedy directed and written by Rachel Israel (“Influenced”/”Keep the Change”) that has a goofy screenplay by co-writers Israel, Andra Gordon, Amelia Brain, Brent Hoff. It’s based on the story by Becky, Shai, & Lily Korman. It blends together a drama with comedy. You don’t have to be Jewish to attend this movie, but it helps.
The setting is Camp Daveed, an Orthodox Jewish camp, in the upstate N.Y. Catskills, where the aspiring musician Nomi (Jacki Tohn) becomes a counselor after kicked out of her own rock band. The head counselor Mara (Sarah Podemski) recruits her camper friend Nomi to be a counselor.
Nomi is assigned to take care of “the floaters,” the misfit nerdy teen campers who have not signed up for any camp activities, who are interested only in the theater. They include One-Nut (Jakob Moskovitz), Delilah 2 (Jillian Jordyn), Delilah 1 (Bekah Zornosa), Tai (Thani Brant), Lindsey (Nina Bloomgarten), Jonah (Judah Lewis), and Westpot (Jake Ryan).
Nomi puts on a camp play based on the Sodom and Gomorrah story from the Bible. It’s seductively written by the unpopular floater Jonah, whose parents force him to go to the camp so he could use it for making future contacts. The play is in competition in the Maccabiah Games for the prize money of $30,000, with its rival wealthier Camp Barak, run by the antagonistic director Danny Green (Seth Green).
The story lacks imagination, produces few laughs, and ties too many undeveloped characters into its unwieldy subplots. By the third act I wanted to go home, I had enough movie camp life. But some former campers might disagree and find it filled with so much delightful nostalgia.
It played at the Bentonville Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 7/16/2026 GRADE: C+
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