Eight Dates and Nights

August 28, 2023
Jewish teen Hannah Levin—a die-hard, born-and-bred New Yorker—is dreading spending four nights of Hanukkah on her grandmother’s ranch in Rosenblum, Tex. Hannah prefers her family’s low-key yearly traditions in N.Y.C., including habitually burning their latkes. But unexplained tension between her parents and her grandmother means she’s stuck on the ranch. She doesn’t have her older brother Josh to act as a buffer, either, since he had his own solo trip to Rosenblum the previous year. Worse, she’s allergic to horses, a near constant variable on the ranch and around town, and it seems that everyone in her grandmother’s small community celebrates Christmas. Upon meeting Noah Blum, a local Jewish teen who’s helping his grandfather run a struggling family deli, Hannah tries to resist his charms. When her flight back to New York is canceled due to a snowstorm, Noah offers to make this year’s Hanukkah celebration one she’ll never forget. Heavy-handed messaging and unconvincing twists dampen the effect of Noah’s infectious holiday zest and the teens’ many adorable romantic outings in this uneven offering by Aldredge (Sasquatch, Love, and Other Imaginary Things). Characters read as white. Ages 12–up. Agent: Christa Heschke, McIntosh & Otis.