Adapted from an award-winning short story by David Bezmozgis, director Eric Steel’s first narrative feature exists at the crossroads between 1980s New York’s gay scene in the era of the emerging AIDS crisis and Brighton Beach’s bustling Jewish community. At the center is 17-year-old David, the son of Russian immigrant parents whose coming-of-age is influenced both by his budding relationship with a handsome East Village bartender, and his friendship with an elderly gay Jewish couple in his building who might find themselves on the wrong end of their community’s strict rules. Brimming with authenticity, both to the period and the cultural traditions it explores, Steel’s film is a revelatory examination of family, tradition, and the occasional need to break free from both.