Abe 2020

In Brooklyn, New York, Abe (Noah Schnapp), at age 12, has discovered that all he is truly passionate about, above all else, is food. He boldly enters his family kitchen and experiments without reservation, concocting all sorts of quirky dishes, like ramen tacos. Abe, sometimes called Avraham and at other times called Ibrahim, is the son of a Muslim-born father, Amir (Arian Moayed) and a Jewish mother, Rebecca (Dagmara Dominczyk). His maternal relatives are Israeli and paternal relatives Palestinian Arabs.

As Abe is maturing, religious rituals become more significant for him to observe, in the eyes of his grandparents. His mother and father just want a peaceful home and make no religious demands on their son, while, at the same time, do not want to disrespect their own parents. Abe’s Israeli grandfather, Benjamin (Mark Margolis) wants to impress the importance of a Bar Mitzvah upon him. Abe’s Palestinian grandparents, Aida (Salem Murphey) and Salim (Tom Mardirosian) want him to learn to fast and abstain from drinking alcohol.

Abe, who prefers online friends and followers of his food blog, Abecooks, to offline, real life friends, finds a role model in an online personality chef from Brazil, who fuses cuisines. Abe is mesmerized by this and sets out to find Chico (Seu George). The young, ambitious, Abe, aspires to integrate Israeli and Palestinian food to bring his divided family together. He hopes to unite both his parents and grandparents and invites them to a Thanksgiving meal that is a culinary blend of their cultures and traditions.

All invitees turn up but resist accepting change. The grandparents lose their filters, while the parents try to diffuse the situation. Abe learns, the hard way, that not all plans get successful results and that old habits die hard. Try as he might, the age old, deeply embedded conflict, won’t disappear quickly.