The best Jewish TV and film to watch in 2025

The Brutalist

A24’s highly acclaimed period epic, The Brutalist, follows visionary Jewish architect László Tóth who arrives in America to rebuild his life, work and marriage after surviving the Holocaust. Picking up seven 2025 Golden Globe nominations, including a win for Jewish actor Adrien Brody (The Pianist) who plays Tóth, this ambitious masterpiece – shot on rarely seen 70mm film and running for three and a half hours – is an extraordinary tribute to the immigrant experience. Watch it in cinemas.

A Complete Unknown

Set in New York’s iconic music scene of the early 1960s, this biographical musical follows 19-year-old Jewish-American musician Bob Dylan (played by Jewish actor Timothée Chalamet) as he rises from a yet-to-be-discovered folk singer to a global sensation – culminating with Dylan’s revolutionary performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Watch it in cinemas.

Anora

Filmmaker Sean Baker wrote the movie Anora with Jewish actress Mikey Madison (Lady in the Lake, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) in mind to play the lead. The Palme d’Or winning comedy-drama centres on the beleaguered marriage between a young sex worker (Madison) and the son of a Russian oligarch. Watch it in cinemas.

The Studio

The latest project of Jewish comedy duo Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen is The Studio, a TV series following a legacy Hollywood movie studio juggling corporate demands with creative ambition. Rogen plays Matt Remick, the new head of the movie studio, in a star-studded cast that also includes Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara, Martin Scorsese and Zac Efron. Watch it on Apple TV+ (March).

Too Much

Like her ground-breaking series Girls, Lena Dunham’s new romantic comedy is semi-autobiographical, following New Yorker Jessica (played by comedian Megan Stalter) who moves to London in the wake of a painful breakup and ends up meeting Felix (Will Sharpe). In a fitting collaboration, American Dunham co-created the series with her English husband, musician Luis Felber. Watch it on Netflix (2025).

Bad Boy

This new Israeli drama series from Ron Leshem (creator of the original Euphoria) follows troubled Dean, who, while held in juvenile detention, befriends a teenager imprisoned for murder. Two decades later, Dean is a successful comedian – and is determined to keep his past secret. It’s inspired by the true story of stand-up comedian Daniel Chen, who plays himself in the show. Watch it on Netflix (2025).

The People of the Book

Jewish actor Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother) is leading a new series unpacking Jewish art and writing. The People of the Book, which will also come as a podcast, sees Radnor interview Jewish authors and celebrities about their books and lives, with topics ranging from food to spirituality. While there’s been no word on how Australians can access the series yet, it will premiere on JLTV in late 2025.

SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night

Iconic American sketch show Saturday Night Live celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2025. This four-part documentary will honour its ground-breaking legacy with a deep dive into the origins of the show, audition process, writer’s room, and infamous sketches that helped launch the careers of countless Jewish comedians. Watch it on Binge (January).

Kugel

Technically, this prequel to the much-loved Shtisel came out in Israel in 2024, but global streaming platform Izzy recently announced it will be exclusively premiering the spinoff for international audiences this year. Kugel follows Nuchem and Libi Shtisel’s life in Antwerp’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish community before they moved to Jerusalem. Watch it on Izzy (February).

Nobody Wants This

This hit show about a hot rabbi (Adam Brody) falling for a ‘shiksa’ (Kristen Bell), which picked up three 2025 Golden Globe nominations, has been renewed for a second highly anticipated season. Joining the team as executive producers and showrunners are Jenni Konner (Girls) and Bruce Eric Kaplan (No Good Deed, Six Feet Under). Watch it on Netflix (2025).

Tehran

After pausing the release of the third season of this hit spy thriller due to the ongoing conflict in Israel, it’s finally being made available to audiences, with English actor Hugh Laurie (House) joining the cast. It's currently being broadcast on Israel’s Kan 11, and will be later made available on Apple TV+. Watch it on Apple TV+ (2025).

The Rehearsal

Jewish comedian Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal gives ordinary people the opportunity to rehearse for their own lives in simulations designed from carefully curated sets and hired actors. The first season of this surreal docu-comedy TV series premiered in 2022 and included an episode on Jewish interfaith parenting. Watch it on Binge (2025).

Vienna Blood

This Austrian-British mystery period drama is set in Vienna in the early 1900s and follows Max Liebermann (Matthew Beard), a student of Sigmund Freud, who helps local detective Oskar Rheinhardt (Jürgen Maurer) investigate a series of disturbing murders – all set against a backdrop of growing antisemitism. The fourth season has just dropped. Watch it on SBS On Demand.

Mary

This epic following Mary’s journey to give birth to Jesus has already caused quite a stir – receiving significant backlash for casting Israeli, not Palestinian, actors Noa Cohen and Ido Tako in the leading roles to ensure authenticity. Several other Israeli actors also star, including Keren Tzur and Ori Pfeffer, along with Anthony Hopkins. Watch it on Netflix.

House of David

The iconic biblical story of David’s ascent to the famous king of Israel is ripe for TV viewing, and this new series promises to deliver an epic tale of destiny, love, loss and power. Egyptian-born Michael Iskander leads the cast as David, which also includes Israelis Ayelet Zurer as Queen Ahinoam and Yali Topol Margalith as Mirab. Watch it on Prime Video (February).

The Bibi Files

This riveting feature documentary, produced by Oscar award-winner Alex Gibney and directed by Alexis Bloom, details the corruption case against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and features leaked interrogation footage from his trial. Watch it on DocPlay.

Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action

This limited documentary series goes behind-the-scenes of America’s controversial The Jerry Springer Show, exposing its biggest scandals across its almost three decades on air. Springer, who passed away in 2023, was the son of Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi Germany, and lost several family members in the Holocaust. Watch it on Netflix.

Prisoner X

In 2010, Australian citizen and Mossad agent Ben Zygier was found dead in his cell at one of Israel's maximum security prisons. Held in solitary confinement under 24/7 surveillance, the guards at the time didn’t know his name or crime, but only as 'Prisoner X'. Newly released as a three-part series, this documentary offers a more in-depth look at the faults and failures of Israel’s notorious intelligence agency. Watch it on DocPlay.