Mazeltov

Filmmaker Zuzovsky debuts with a shimmering novelization of his short film about an Israeli boy’s coming-of-age. As Adam Weizmann’s bar mitzvah looms, he’s more focused on figuring out his sexuality and overcoming his stage fright in an upcoming school play. Zuzovsky portrays Adam from many characters’ perspectives, beginning with his classmate Eleanor, who makes out with him during a camping trip until he politely withdraws. There’s also his friend Abigail, who writes him a letter outlining everything that’s special about their friendship (“like the friends from Friends, but cooler and less problematic”). In a flash-forward, Adam encounters bar mitzvah waiter Khalil in a New York City gay bar years later, prompting him to wonder at how he’s longed for the other man for so much time despite never knowing him. The disparate perspectives on Adam occasionally feel diffuse, but Zuzovsky exhibits a knack for crisp phrasing (“Her tears were bitter, like black pepper”; “when it comes to Judaism, she is as ignorant as an empty jar of pickles”). It’s an auspicious first outing. (Feb.)