About This Script
Faith and Peter met in medical school and fell in love. She grew up culturally Jewish — identity, history, guilt — but without real religious conviction. He grew up deeply Catholic, rooted in community and ritual. When their controlling mothers each extracted a promise to raise any future children solely in their own faith, Faith and Peter did what any reasonable people would do: they joined a medical collective abroad, had two kids, and invented an elaborate system of staged traditions. Fake bat mitzvah photos. Staged confirmations. Twenty years of very organized avoidance.
Now they’re back in Bangor, Maine. Kids David, 20, and Marley, 18, are home from college. Bubbie Ruth and grandfather Irv arrive from one direction. Nonna and Sal from the other. Then a massive blizzard hits, flights cancel, roads close, and the entire family is trapped under one roof for the first time — ever.
The grandmothers immediately begin competing over everything: the kitchen, the decorations, the blessings, the holiday lights. The power goes out on Christmas Eve. The only solution everyone can agree on is the most Jewish tradition of all — Chinese food. When old photo albums in the attic expose the charade, all hell breaks loose. And when Irv collapses in the snow, something shifts — and the family begins to understand what they actually stand to lose.
The Inspiration
“I grew up with the most confusing Jewish identity imaginable. Holocaust survivor grandparents, an atheist mother, a born-again Christian father — and still at Grandma’s for Shabbas every Friday night. I married a Catholic. And suddenly the question got louder. Bubbie and Nonna is my imagination on what might have been.” — Gilda Hauser Porcari, Writer
Theme
Right now, identity feels louder than love. This film is the hope that it doesn’t have to.
The Characters
Why It Sells
- Interfaith family comedy is a proven audience — My Big Fat Greek Wedding grossed $368M on a $5M budget
- Holiday release window with dual-holiday hook (Christmas + Hanukkah overlap is a real, rare event)
- Ensemble casting potential with two female leads (the grandmothers) driving the comedy
- Timely theme: identity vs. love resonates across every demographic right now
Script Details
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Holiday Comedy / Family Drama
Setting: Bangor, Maine — Christmas / Hanukkah, present day
Target: Wide Release / Streaming / Hallmark holiday
Comps: My Big Fat Greek Wedding · The Big Sick · Hallmark Holiday
Status: Treatment