# Unorthodox (miniseries)
**Unorthodox** is a four-part drama miniseries released on Netflix on March 26, 2020, loosely based on [Deborah Feldman](https://www.edgepedia.org/deborah-feldman)'s 2012 memoir *[Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots](https://www.edgepedia.org/unorthodox-the-scandalous-rejection-of-my-hasidic-roots)*. It follows Esther "Esty" Shapiro, a 19-year-old woman who flees her arranged marriage and the Satmar Hasidic community of [Williamsburg, Brooklyn](https://www.edgepedia.org/williamsburg-brooklyn), to build a new life in Berlin, while her husband and his cousin pursue her.[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81019069) • [2](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/true-story-behind-unorthodox/) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox) Created by Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski and directed by Maria Schrader, it was Netflix's first series told primarily in Yiddish.[4](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/unorthodox/) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-09/netflix-unorthodox-shira-haas-orthodox-judaism-true-story/12133450)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | March 26, 2020, on Netflix; four episodes[1](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81019069) |
| Source | Deborah Feldman's 2012 memoir *Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots*[2](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/true-story-behind-unorthodox/) |
| Creators / director | Anna Winger and Alexa Karolinski (creators and writers); Maria Schrader (director)[4](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/unorthodox/) |
| Lead cast | Shira Haas as Esther "Esty" Shapiro; Amit Rahav as Yakov "Yanky" Shapiro; Jeff Wilbusch as Moishe Lefkovitch[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox) |
| Language | Filmed in Yiddish and English; the first Netflix series told primarily in Yiddish[5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-09/netflix-unorthodox-shira-haas-orthodox-judaism-true-story/12133450) • [6](https://time.com/5809043/unorthodox-netflix-review/) |
| Emmy result | Eight nominations; Maria Schrader won Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/unorthodox) |
| Critical scores | 96% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (50 reviews); Metascore 85 on Metacritic[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unorthodox/) |
| Production | Studio Airlift and Real Film Berlin for Netflix; shot in New York and Berlin[4](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/unorthodox/) • [9](https://jppi.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AA2020E.pdf) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and source
The series opens with Esty Shapiro, raised in the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg, leaving her arranged marriage and boarding a plane to Berlin, where her disowned mother has lived for years. Flashbacks reveal the constraints that drove her out: constant communal surveillance, a marriage in which her value was tied to producing children, and her suppressed ambition to study music, which the series recasts as her calling in Berlin.[6](https://time.com/5809043/unorthodox-netflix-review/) • [5](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-09/netflix-unorthodox-shira-haas-orthodox-judaism-true-story/12133450) In Berlin she auditions for a conservatory scholarship, and the story acquires thriller momentum as her husband Yanky and his cousin Moishe arrive to bring her back, acting on orders from their rabbi.[4](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/unorthodox/) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unorthodox/) • [24](https://www.netflix.com/title/81019069)
The adaptation departs from Feldman's memoir in significant ways. The memoir recounts Feldman's own departure from the Satmar community, first to New York's suburbs and later to Berlin; the series invents the character Esty, recasts the protagonist as a would-be musician, and adds the pursuit plot.[6](https://time.com/5809043/unorthodox-netflix-review/) • [10](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/unorthodox-reviewed-a-young-womans-remarkable-flight-from-hasidic-williamsburg) Feldman said her life after the book's publication remained private and that this was made clear to co-creators Winger and Karolinski.[2](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/true-story-behind-unorthodox/)
## Production and authenticity
**Casting and language.** Winger and Karolinski decided from the beginning to cast only Jewish actors in Jewish roles, a deliberate position against the German tradition of making film and television about [Jewish history](https://www.edgepedia.org/jewish-history) with no Jewish participation on either side of the camera.[11](https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/article/anna-winger-its-creatively-freeing-to-not-live-in-your-own-culture-141582) Because no single country could supply enough English-Yiddish bilingual actors, casting directors ran an international search through Jewish theaters in German-speaking countries, Jewish communities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, drama schools, and Yiddish-speaking film productions, connecting with casting teams in Israel, the United Kingdom, and beyond. Israeli actors [Shira Haas](https://www.edgepedia.org/shira-haas) and Amit Rahav became the central couple.[12](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/unorthodox-netflix-casting-directors-process-finding-actors-71120/)
The production took research trips to Hasidic neighborhoods in Brooklyn and hired a cultural consultant who helped write and translate the scripts into the specific dialect of Hungarian Yiddish spoken by the Satmar community, a patois laced with English loanwords, and was present on set nearly every day as dialect coach. Dozens of faux-fur shtreimels were specially made for the series.[13](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-04-07/unorthodox-netflix-hasidic-jewish-customs) • [14](https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/religion-context/practice/entertainment-media/unorthodox-netflix-2020)
## Reception
Critical response was strongly positive. Rotten Tomatoes recorded a 96% Tomatometer from 50 reviews and an 83% audience score; Metacritic assigned a Metascore of 85 based on 11 critic reviews, in the "universal acclaim" band.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unorthodox/) Reviewers singled out Haas's performance; the critics consensus on Rotten Tomatoes centered the series on her "captivating performance," and IndieWire called the 24-year-old actress "an instant sensation who commands every moment she's on screen."[15](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox/s01) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unorthodox/) The series also drew criticism: some commentators argued that despite the research, it played into stereotypes about the community it depicted, and the Satmar community claimed its representation by a German film crew was inaccurate.[14](https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/religion-context/practice/entertainment-media/unorthodox-netflix-2020) • [16](https://wjudaism.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/wjudaism/article/download/34390/26350)
## Awards
At the 72nd [Primetime Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/primetime-emmy-awards), *Unorthodox* received eight nominations, including Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Lead Actress for Haas, and won Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special for Maria Schrader.[7](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/unorthodox) Schrader was only the fourth woman to win that directing category since it was created in 1971.[17](https://www.nywift.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021-WMC-EMMYS-2021.pdf) The series won a 2020 Peabody Award, cited for dramatizing how misogyny embeds itself in daily rituals, family ties, and tribal imperatives without easy sensationalism.[4](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/unorthodox/) It was named to the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute)'s top 10 TV programs of 2020, and at the 2021 Independent Spirit Awards Haas won Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series and Rahav won Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series; Jeff Wilbusch won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor.[18](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film629803.html) • [19](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9815454/awards/) The series was also nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in the International category.[19](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9815454/awards/)
## Context and legacy
*Unorthodox* joined a wave of screen work about strictly Orthodox Jewish communities, alongside the Israeli series *Shtisel* (2013–2021) and the 2017 documentary *One of Us*, and it brought the ultra-Orthodox world into mainstream streaming visibility.[20](https://jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/291/266) • [6](https://time.com/5809043/unorthodox-netflix-review/) European Screen described it as the most internationally discussed German-language Netflix production to date, and it became a frequently cited reference point in later discussions of representation of Haredi communities on screen.[21](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/unorthodox/) • [22](https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/100749356/os-9554-shaw.pdf) Winger's later Netflix series *[Transatlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/transatlantic-tv-series)* (2023) was marketed on her role as *Unorthodox*'s creator.[23](https://time.com/6268258/transatlantic-review/)
## References
1. [Unorthodox, Netflix Media Center](https://media.netflix.com/en/only-on-netflix/81019069)
2. [The True Story Behind 'Unorthodox', Golden Globes](https://goldenglobes.com/articles/true-story-behind-unorthodox/)
3. [Unorthodox, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox)
4. [Unorthodox, The Peabody Awards](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/unorthodox/)
5. [Netflix series Unorthodox is bringing the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community into the mainstream, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-09/netflix-unorthodox-shira-haas-orthodox-judaism-true-story/12133450)
6. [In Netflix's 'Unorthodox,' One Woman Flees Hasidic Brooklyn, Time](https://time.com/5809043/unorthodox-netflix-review/)
7. [Unorthodox, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/shows/unorthodox)
8. [Unorthodox Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/tv/unorthodox/)
9. [JPPI Shnatone 2019–2020](https://jppi.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/AA2020E.pdf)
10. ["Unorthodox," Reviewed, The New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/unorthodox-reviewed-a-young-womans-remarkable-flight-from-hasidic-williamsburg)
11. [Anna Winger: "It's creatively freeing to not live in your own culture", Berliner Zeitung](https://www.berliner-zeitung.de/article/anna-winger-its-creatively-freeing-to-not-live-in-your-own-culture-141582)
12. [Why an International Casting Search Was the Key to Success on Netflix's 'Unorthodox', Backstage](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/unorthodox-netflix-casting-directors-process-finding-actors-71120/)
13. [How 'Unorthodox' on Netflix got Hasidic Jewish customs right, Los Angeles Times](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-04-07/unorthodox-netflix-hasidic-jewish-customs)
14. [Unorthodox (Netflix, 2020), Harvard Religion and Public Life](https://rpl.hds.harvard.edu/religion-context/practice/entertainment-media/unorthodox-netflix-2020)
15. [Unorthodox: Miniseries, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/unorthodox/s01)
16. [Film review: Unorthodox, Women in Judaism](https://wjudaism.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/wjudaism/article/download/34390/26350)
17. [WMC/NYWIFT Emmys 2021 report](https://www.nywift.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/2021-WMC-EMMYS-2021.pdf)
18. [Unorthodox (TV Miniseries) (2020), Filmaffinity](https://www.filmaffinity.com/en/film629803.html)
19. [Unorthodox (TV Mini Series 2020), Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9815454/awards/)
20. [Stefanie Knauss, Journal of Religion, Film and Media](https://jrfm.eu/index.php/ojs_jrfm/article/download/291/266)
21. [Unorthodox, European Screen](https://europeanscreen.com/titles/unorthodox/)
22. [Kristi Girdharry Shaw, screen representation of Orthodox Jewry, University of Portsmouth](https://pure.port.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/100749356/os-9554-shaw.pdf)
23. [Netflix's 'Transatlantic' review, Time](https://time.com/6268258/transatlantic-review/)
24. [Watch Unorthodox, Netflix Official Site](https://www.netflix.com/title/81019069)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Adapted and franchise screen series*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license